Last week, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced a hiring freeze and layoffs for The Walt Disney Company. With the Disney Parks division raking in a record $28.7 billion in revenue and nearly $8 billion in operating income, the parks division is currently propping up The Walt Disney Company which has losses in the Media side of the company, which recorded 42% less operating income than in 2021. In a memo about the hiring freeze and layoffs, Chapek noted that executives anticipated “some staff reductions”, but did not elaborate upon the scope of the layoffs. So, that begs the question – where are the layoffs coming from, and will the theme parks division be affected?
As of publish time, Disney World has not filed a required notice with the state of Florida for any layoffs. State law requires a 60-day advance notice, which is what Disney did when they laid off more than 10,000 Cast Members at the Walt Disney World Resort. This means that any potential layoffs would come in 2023, but a report from the Orlando Sentinel suggests that Disney World has not even begun discussions of any layoffs with the largest Cast Member union – the STCU.
Beyond the layoffs, there is a widespread hiring freeze that will affect all divisions with the exception of “a small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions”. It is likely that a hiring freeze would affect the parks business, but again, specifics were not given. There have been no substantive changes to the Disney Careers job website, and there have even been a handful of new job postings to the site since the hiring freeze was announced. Unite Here Local 362 President Eric Clinton does not think that Walt Disney World will be affected by a hiring freeze and does not anticipate layoffs, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Other potential impacts to the theme park business such as proposed projects was not discussed in the Chapek memo, but Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared a timeline on upcoming projects back in September at the D23 Expo.
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!
Yeah… the reason why there’s been no mention of layoffs with the union or FL or CA law is that Bob Chapek did not say “layoffs.” That’s your interpretation of what he actually said.
A hiring freeze leads to reduced staffing through natural churn. And with reduced staffing comes restructuring of roles.
All this without one pink slip. Not that there might be some, but, no massive layoffs. It’s not what he said.