Disney Parks laying off 28,000 cast members

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Disney just released a statement laying off 28,000 cast members due to COVID and CA not willing to reopen Disneyland. How will that affect WDW with cast members being laid off while increasing capacity at the same time?

 

[J-BOY]

It’s important to note that it’s not just parks Cast Members being laid off. Also includes Imagineering and other employees throughout Parks/Experiences/Products.

Evidently about 2/3 of the layoffs are part-time employees, and I’d wager many of them were furloughed and not expected back anytime soon.

 

[BrianL]

That is very sad. I know they were fighting hard to get DLR back open. They seem to be doing a good job at WDW so I wish California would allow them to at least partially get back to work (I would feel differently if any outbreaks were traced to WDW but that seems to not be the case). This is all so sad.

 

[skeeter31]

Disney just released a statement laying off 28,000 cast members due to COVID and CA not willing to reopen Disneyland. How will that affect WDW with cast members being laid off while increasing capacity at the same time?

I’m guessing most of the laid off staff have never even been called back from furlough, so it shouldn’t impact the day to day operations too much currently.

 

[fla4fun]

It’s sad, but on the plus side, if there were no plans to bring the part timers back for the foreseeable future, at least now they know for sure and can look for other employment. It had to be hard to find a fill in job when you could be called back any time. Being in limbo is tough. I do hope DL is able to open soon.

 

[hertamaniac]

So does this let the P/T CM's who were furloughed to seek unemployment benefits?

 

[mi*vida*loca]

So does this let the P/T CM's who were furloughed to seek unemployment benefits?

Furloughed employees were already receiving unemployment. Furloughing them lets them keep their insurance benefits While getting unemployment. Now they will lose their benefits.

 

[TwoMisfits]

"As part of its farewell package, Disney will offer benefits to the workers being cut, including 90 days of severance."

 

[BrianL]

"As part of its farewell package, Disney will offer benefits to the workers being cut, including 90 days of severance."

That helps anyway.

 

[jlwhitney]

It’s sad, but on the plus side, if there were no plans to bring the part timers back for the foreseeable future, at least now they know for sure and can look for other employment. It had to be hard to find a fill in job when you could be called back any time. Being in limbo is tough. I do hope DL is able to open soon.

Yeah but there isn’t gonna be a lot of jobs out there for all of them either.

 

[Weedy]

 

[RamblingMad]

"As part of its farewell package, Disney will offer benefits to the workers being cut, including 90 days of severance."

Is this COBRA?

 

[Bruggok]

My guess that this is partly to pressure the state of CA to make a fair decision. How is it that people can be in an indoor business or grocery store for extended period of time, plus exercise outdoors, but aren’t allowed to visit amusement parks that are mostly outdoors?

 

[TwoMisfits]

Is this COBRA?

No idea...you know as much as I do from the quote...

 

[Weedy]

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/09/29...-park-business.html?__twitter_impression=true

 

[skeeter31]

Is this COBRA?

No, COBRA is health insurance. Severance is money payments. So Disney will be paying the laid off employees for 90 additional days after the termination date. COBRA is a health insurance continuation program where ex-employees can pay a premium to continue their health benefits for up to a year after their leaving of the employment. That’s a government mandated thing, not something the employer offers as a benefit.

 

[wilbret]

It is so sad that CA politics are going to cause these people to be out of work.
I went back to the office in May, for a giant fortune 100 company... our plants never shut down (including our CA locations!). Our offices have been fine. We even traveled for work. It is possible to navigate thru this time. The CA Governor should be ashamed. /end rant.

 

[BrianL]

My guess that this is partly to pressure the state of CA to make a fair decision. How is it that people can be in an indoor business or grocery store for extended period of time, plus exercise outdoors, but aren’t allowed to visit amusement parks that are mostly outdoors?

I agree. I'm all for being as cautions as needed, but WDW seems to be operating well with temperature checks and mask requirements. There have been no reported outbreaks stemming from it's operation. If anything, Disney is setting the example of how to operate responsibly. With limited capacity at DLR they could at least get some people back to work.

 

[osufeth24]

My guess that this is partly to pressure the state of CA to make a fair decision. How is it that people can be in an indoor business or grocery store for extended period of time, plus exercise outdoors, but aren’t allowed to visit amusement parks that are mostly outdoors?

It's pure politics. I'm not saying that bashing a certain side, but many of the decisions each state has made is purely political. From both sides.

It's unfortunate because we the people are the ones who suffer because of it

 

[BK2014]

"As part of its farewell package, Disney will offer benefits to the workers being cut, including 90 days of severance."

Can you tell us where you are quoting this from?