mlayton144
Well-Known Member
1137
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News Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin to eliminate 1136 employees
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
1137
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
While I don't exactly disagree with you or techgeek, people who traveled for work enjoy interacting with people in person, and they are absolutely craving a return to normal.
While Zoom has many pluses, a conversation over Zoom just isn't the same as an in-person conversation. Much of business depends on relationships and trust, and the details of human interaction.
It will take some time to recover, and hybrid is here to stay, and we are in the middle of a paradigm shift, but people will still be fundamentally still be people after this is all over. Bottom line, we're social creatures.
We've been social since the dawn of our existence, and we'll continue to be social creatures for many generations to come (at least as long as we continue to exist).
This is the strongest counter-argument for continued in person meetings, and I certainly believe a significant % of the industry will come back on the basis of that alone. Even networking aside, there’s something about the live experience that can’t be replicated. Companies will be paying a premium for that now though, making it a harder sell. It won’t be automatic.
The question at the end of the day is how much is lost forever to hybrid / virtual. Even if it’s a modest 20% or so it’s a huge hit. What business remains is also going to be heavily cost-managed for a long period, which is something we saw a lot of in the 2001 and 2008 downturns.
mdcpr
Well-Known Member
I understand point. But you can still build relationship and trust working at home and over Zoom. I'm in tech, been working from home for 20 years, and have developed great business relationships and even friendships with people I barely (sometime never) see face to face.
But again tech, where being not social does not disqualify you from doing pretty well.
denyuntilcaught
Well-Known Member
You can, but the proof is in the nature of human interaction, as MickeyLuv'r stated. We're seeing a rise in WFH fatigue and even the press is picking up on it. People miss routines, commutes, and basically everything that we hate about office life, but at least it beats the mundane nature of WFH months on months on end.
One would think security to watch the empty hotels and landscapers to upkeep the grounds. It would look terrible if cuts are made in that and the hotel grounds will look like overgrown weeds.
SourcererMark79
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I'm well south of that line
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That’s a good thing. Encouraging.I'm well south of that line
20 year olds have proven to be completely untrustworthy...treat them like the children they are.
Tie it off.
Mr Mindcrime
Well-Known Member
I also worked Big Four years ago and my current position and industry has required a fair amount of travel. There is a need for face to face business travel but nowhere near the level of where we've been. Much business travel has a "fun" component to it that just doesn't have to happen. When you see some of the invoices and expense reports, you realize how much money the travel industry generates. Much of that doesn't have to happen and now we're seeing that business can go on with much less travel. It might not be as fun (my family has enjoyed their share of "business" travel over the years) but it can be done. I feel very, very sad for job losses (my brother, still working, has spent his entire career at Delta Airlines, so we know anxiety), but its easy to see, IMHO, that the business travel industry might be having a day of reckoning.
It's a huge loss for WDW, Swan and Dolphin, International Drive hotels, etc. These resorts take part in convention business meetings by day, enjoy the parks sometimes in partial or full private park buy outs at night as their "fun". Clearly a huge profit loss for the hotel convention centers and staff that ended up losing their jobs.
Beenhereawhile
Member
Those people may very well miss it however the companies who pay the bill may not. Time will tell if it effects the bottom line. No doubt this is the great reset button many businesses will use to see if there really was enough profit to warrant those travel expenses.
tirian
Well-Known Member
It’s definitely “different strokes for different folks,” but my coworkers and I cannot wait to return to an office environment. Who wants to be at home all day with no physical separation between work and play? That’s just us, though.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Those conferences are set out months, years in advance. With the increased use of Zoom and Webex, and the tremendous cost entailed in travel, I could see many of these conferences never coming back. It hurts when you consider that Swan Reserve was built specifically to take on convention tourism.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Exactly, it doesn’t matter what the employees think. Once the companies see that they can replace business travel with a zoom conference it’s a done deal. I’d say at least 20-40% of national business travel will never return and I feel like that number is optimistic, just a guess of course.
Same with offices. Unless businesses see a drop in productcivity why would they want to continue paying for high priced office buildings? And if they see a loss in productivity... perhaps they need to replace the current employees with younger workers who are fresh out of business school, looking for a job, and won’t complain about zoom all day.
. Welcome to the future.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Exactly, it doesn’t matter what the employees think. Once the companies see that they can replace business travel with a zoom conference it’s a done deal. I’d say at least 20-40% of national business travel will never return and I feel like that number is optimistic, just a guess of course.
Same with offices. Unless businesses see a drop in productcivity why would they want to continue paying for high priced office buildings? And if they see a loss in productivity... perhaps they need to replace the current employees with younger workers who are fresh out of business school, looking for a job, and won’t complain about zoom all day.
Let's talk about the airlines. As someone who infrequently travels, and usually just for personal vacations, I've long felt the bread and butter for so many of the major airlines were the businesses travelers. What happens when that travel goes kaput? And virtually all that's left is personal travel? Expensive airlines and all the accoutrements they come with that cater to well-heeled business travelers...lots of downstream consequences from this freeze (for the foreseeable future) on non-essential travel.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Excuse my ignorance...but is “big four” the big 5 minus Arthur Anderson?
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Exactly. That’s why mass layoffs are coming October 1. I’m not sure the exact numbers but I know my friend who is a flight attendant with AA no longer has his job after October 1 and he was willing to move to another city to keep his job.
Back to the swan & dolphin... the entire crescent lake area needs convention center guests to fill those expensive bars and restaurants, but the expensive art from the gallery, etc. The boardwalk alone has 4 sit down restaurants, 3 bars, and a nightclub. It’s not the dvc crowd keeping all of that open.
That’s what’s hard for me. What makes Disney world so special is the energy it has.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Yeah, and I heard Boardwalk’s been a complete ghost town since all this shut down. Not a pretty sight. Have to imagine the project manager/incoming GM for that huge Swan Reserve is having massive heartburn right now. Orlando is about to have a massive, massive glut of convention space and service industry professionals with virtually no demand for the foreseeable future. And they’re finishing a massive complex.