1 in 6 Disney Employees Will Be Laid Off by Spring 2021

    Note: An earlier version of this post said that the employees would be laid off by end of 2020. The article has been corrected to reflect that the employees will be laid off “in the first half of fiscal 2021”, which ends March 2021. Our original story continues below.

    On the day before Thanksgiving, Disney filed their Annual Report with the SEC, offering a bit more insight into how COVID-19 impacted their business.

    Back in September, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro announced that 28,000 Cast Members from the domestic theme parks division would be laid off as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on their business. When the dust settled and the relevant documents were filed with the respective states, over 18,000 Cast Members were laid off from Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL and roughly 10,000 Cast Members were laid off from Disneyland in California.

    Now, in an updated filing with the SEC, Disney has said that the total amount of Cast Members to be laid off as part of “efficiencies in its staffing” will be 32,000 by the end of March 2021. It’s important to note that these additional Cast Members are not all from the theme parks division. As a matter of fact, it’s likely that the vast majority of these Cast Members are from other divisions within The Walt Disney Company. Disney did not break down the 32,000 layoffs by division, but said that the majority of layoffs occurred within the theme parks division, which aligns with the earlier statement that 28,000 domestic theme park Cast Members would be laid off.

    In a company of over 200,000 employees, nearly 1 in 6 will be laid off by Spring.

    In addition to the 32,000 layoffs, Disney said that there were approximately 37,000 Cast Members still on furlough – not collecting a paycheck, but receiving some benefits such as medical. When factoring in furloughs and layoffs, Disney is writing 34% fewer checks as a result of COVID-19.

    Looking into the future, Disney believes that the impact of COVID-19 will be felt into late 2021, if not longer. Disney notes uncertainty as it relates to governmental actions and risk tolerances for their guests. Disney also notes uncertainty as it relates to rising COVID-19 cases and any impact an increase in cases could have on the strength or even viability on some of their operations.

    As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!

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    4 COMMENTS

    1. Hard decision in a hard time. In spite of the projection of fantasy Disney is a real company in a real economic world. The lay offs are justified.
      What would be appropriate would be a sharp reduction in executive wages and an elimination of bonuses.

    2. Well you know that’s not going to happen the top dogs are not going to take a cut in pay that’s for sure as long as people go to the parks and pay outrageous prices and get less they don’t care about the cast members that are trying to put food on there tables . If people would stop going to the parks maybe they would come up with a different solution. But then again these cast members work in a right to work state. A right to work for less. You are. It going to make money in Florida.

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