In a recent press conference, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings called the announcement of Disney World layoffs “sobering” but said that the call from Disney was not unexpected. Demings noted that Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the country and while they have endeavoured to keep as many Cast Members employed as possible, it’s an undeniable fact that the economy isn’t going to support full staffing. Even Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro noted that Disney “cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity”.
While we’re a Disney-focused blog, Disney is just the latest of the major theme parks to announce layoffs in the Central Florida area. While Disney World has officially laid off 6,700 Cast Members so far, that count is just the non-union layoffs that we know about. Disney is still negotiating with unions on both coasts to total up to 28,000 Cast Member layoffs.
On top of the Disney World announcement, Universal Orlando has laid off over 2,300 Team Members. SeaWorld has laid off 1,300. Other sectors of the tourism industry have laid off a collective 30,000 employees. When you add up all of the layoffs in the Central Florida area, it’s understandable why Demings would say that the layoffs were easy to foresee.
In total, Disney Parks will lay off nearly 30% off their domestic workforce, and Demings will be reopening the local CARES Act portal to assist those affected by the layoffs. Demings promised more details on Monday, October 5th. The last time the CARES Act portal was opened back in July, it was closed within 10 minutes after more than 10,000 applications were submitted. Orange County Florida has over $50 million in funding left to distribute, according to Demings.
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!