#COVID-19 IMPACT: Disney Set To Cut Down 28000 Of Its Staffs––The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has finally taken its toll on Walt Disney Co.’s division that includes theme parks like Walt Disney World hence its plans to permanently lay off 28,000 of its workforce.
With the shares of the company fallong less than 2% after the closing bell on Tuesday, the head of parks at Disney Josh D’Amaro sent a memo to it’s employees about the several “difficult decisions” the company has had to make in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal,” he wrote. “Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. And, as a result, today we are now forced to reduce the size of our team across executive, salaried, and hourly roles.”
D’Amaro added that 67% of the 28,000 laid off workers were part-time employees as the company declined to break down the layoffs by individual park locations.
Disney has been losing money since the outbreak began. In the second quarter, the company reported a loss of $1 billion in operating income due to the closures of its parks, hotels and cruise lines. In the third quarter, the company reported a steeper loss of $3.5 billion.
“For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company. We’ve cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our cast members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity”.
He added the company hopes to bring back the laid off employees “when we can.”
U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-Orlando) called the Disney layoffs “devastating”
“Like so many others over recent months, these layoffs will be devastating for countless people. It’s up to all of us to step up and help in every way we can,” she wrote. “These layoffs show yet again how desperately … assistance is needed by American households and businesses.”
