Disney Parks laying off 28,000 cast members

[rteetz]

Im not sure they even know what they want right now. Universal has gone the way if filling the park to capacity any way it can to get new money in the door. Disney cant seem to make up their mind.

Disney is filling their allotments for the most part. The parks are no longer ghost towns either. Epcot does still struggle a bit during the week but MK and DHS really have no issues.

 

[rteetz]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/10/pay-...4u0xz0C_tLrNkyIMxjDE1fZElblZqeEM6yePMjyZG-Hwc

 

[Disney Bobby]

No executive of any company can be expected to have though of this massive impact from something completely beyond their control. In the history of the company, they have only experianced shutdowns of a day or two for natural disasters.

And again, if they did anticipate this, and they stopped all investment in the parks and stopped all additional hiring to horde cash, I am certain, you, everyone on this site, shareholders, and workers would have all been complaining.

Come on, you would be OK with the parks looking exactly as they did 10 years ago while Iger hoarded cash for the company? That means the same coat of paint, no Pandora, no TSL, no GE, no MK and Epcot upgrades, just a pile of cash on the balance sheet for that possible pandemic, alien invasion, etc.

Many companies have had pandemic plans in place for many years. I know, because I was involved in writing some of those plans. The problem is that some only looked at it from an operational standpoint and not a financial standpoint. Smart execs know their business and know the risks and plan accordingly. That doesn't mean ceasing all R&D, but it certainly plays into how they leverage themselves.

 

[anthony2k7]

oh I'm plenty used to it, that's why I said "not surprising" I have been to the last performances of 4 for a Dollar, British Revolution, Mulch Sweat and Shears, several parades, Disney Channel Rocks, many, many citizens of Hollywood, the Hollywood Public Works, Royal Majesty Makers, none of them have had any notice from Disney

I was there for that last 4 for a dollar performance as well!

It was one of my first trips to wdw. I didnt even know they existed. For me, their performance was considerably better than the main batb show. I remember there being some fairly professional looking film cameras there. Not sure if they were 4 for a dollar's own people recording the final show or what but I thought it was odd. It was only later that I found out it was their last show which maybe explained the cameras. It was odd to feel so happy of seeing the performance and then sad to later know it was their last yet also lucky to know we got to see it.

Similar happened with adventurers club, I knew enough about the place to know we had to go on my first trip, but I had no clue that the club was closing a few days later. Happy/sad/lucky again.

 

[New Mouse]

and this just proves my point.... looking at the situation from a FAN point of view instead of from a business point of view. Armchair fans looking at things from the outside.

THIS is why Bob Chapek, Christine McCarthy and the other high executives are paid the big money, to make these emotionless brutal decisions to ensure that the company survives. Like it or not, CM's are just a number, its the investors are whats important. To ensure that in 12, 18 months TWDC still exists, that WDW and DL and the international parks do not close, to ensure that DCL can resume sailing, that Disney+ can stay online cuts have to be made.

Its survival of the fittest right now, and all these 28000 redundancies are to make sure that in 2023 TWDW is still able to operate.

There are many ways to achieve that however and cutting 28000 employees is just the easy way out.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

They’ve already done this. They had crazy low prices for tickets and 30% off resort stays for a lot of people.

Really though Disney isn't doing all they could.

They should be reducing ticket prices and resort prices. Havin enticements for people to come back.
show that they care about the loyal customers and loyal cast.

But my feeling is they want to hold on to the prices and now lower them because they still hold on to the illusions of things going back to normal and don't want to lower prices but just keep them at the same level.

 

[anthony2k7]

Just noticed a Joe Rohde comment on Instagram saying he wasn't part of this.

 

[Brianstl]

They shouldnt, there should be a sliding scale reduction in salaries across the board. 25% at the top down to 5% at the bottom. The numbers are random that I threw out there, but everyone should feel the burden on this....that is...if all cast members truly matter.

Its a cop out on leadership to take the approach they did.

As for the company going into a death sprial, there are others that are in much worse shape and have taken on additional debt without a problem. I dont think thats the solution but it is a solution.

Disney has been bleeding some talent over the last year. You cut peoples’ salaries, you give more people incentive to leave.

Also, you can’t just say they should take on more debt. Disney borrowing cost while not super high, have been accelerating rapidly. Any additional debt will really start to eat into revenues when we have a recovery.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Just noticed a Joe Rohde comment on Instagram saying he wasn't part of this.

After learning he was 65, I wouldn’t be surprised if a retirement were imminent. But he’s lead on Lighthouse Point and such a face for WDI. Surely TWDC wants to give the impression that he’s writing his own exit plan and not a casualty in this.
After plans are finalized/approved with the DCL project I could totally see him transitioning to a non-compete consulting role for a while and the riding off into the sunset. A well deserved ride, at that.

 

[Brianstl]

Disney promotes itself as a different kind of company. All about getting tons of good publicity over equality and fairness and justice. They have reaped the benefits for the talk. Time for them to walk the walk.

I don't care about drops or buckets or any other talking points. Millions of dollars is life changing for people with nothing. These execs should do the right thing, and only temporarily only reducing their salary and still leaving HUGE bonuses on table is not fair. It's not equal. And it's not just.

you are just now realizing all that stuff from companies is PR?

 

[Brianstl]

You are paid $65 million dollars for ONE year. It should have been somewhere on the radar, considering he did have a lesser version of this in 2009 while he was CEO.

Just sayin'.

That is probably one of the reasons Iger has faded from the forefront of Disney’s public face since the first month of the pandemic.

 

[BK2014]

Cutting off so many people who worked there, moved here to do so, dedicated their LIVES...ugh. It's just business, right?

What is Disney supposed to do? Very few jobs come with a guarantee of lifetime employment. And even speaking as one who last August moved across the country, took a lower paying job so DW could get an entry level job at Disneyo only to be furloughed since March assuming a layoff will follow - Disney didn't ask us to do this. They weren't advertising for potential castmembers to uproot their lives to come work for them. It was a risk that we took.

As for people posting about the number of jobs available in central Florida - yes there are a good number of jobs available. But there are many more people who are job seeking than there are jobs. DW has been applying and the response rate is much worse than it was when she was first applying this time last year. And she is applying for all kinds of work, even jobs in the career that she did for 12 years prior to us moving to Florida.

But like others, if Disney called her back, she would happily go.

 

[New Mouse]

Disney has been bleeding some talent over the last year. You cut peoples’ salaries, you give more people incentive to leave.

Also, you can’t just say they should take on more debt. Disney borrowing cost while not super high, have been accelerating rapidly. Any additional debt will really start to eat into revenues when we have a recovery.

So then dont put on an act like your staff is so important to you. They love to say they are not like other companies (just like they say DVC isnt a time share) but when it actually comes down to it, they are.

Fyi, these layoffs seems to be random to your point of losing talent as they have been laying off very talented people.

 

[andyman8]

Just a thought, everyone saying oh Disney should do this, Disney should do that, does anyone actually own and run a business?? Does anyone have a business qualification and actually understand the financial decisions being made??

Yes it is brutal whats happening now, but thats just business. I get that everyone loves the Disney Magic and the fuzzy feel good image. But in order for a company to survive in such a huge crisis as a global pandemic, a crisis that NO company from the mom and pop down the street to the huge multi national corporations such as Disney have any idea of how to cope with, theses brutal measures have to be done.

I get that we all love Disney, but maybe some people should see this as a teaching movement. THIS is what running a business is all about, crisis management and being able to make decisions for the good of the entire company without emotion. Running a business means being ruthless and cutthroat and looking after number one.

To be fair, with maybe the exception of one or two posters, I really haven’t seen anyone saying that the layoffs themselves were unnecessary or “blaming” Disney for them.

I think it’s more than fair to be critical of Disney including the CA language in the announcement and/or reinstating full executive pay before making these announcements. I think you can be very familiar with “big business” and still question the judgement of those decisions. You can disagree, but other large companies have made different decisions on those fronts.

I will say also that the “it is what it is,” while I’m sure well-intentioned, can come across as it a little cavalier. For some, these are theme park workers. For others on here, these are best friends, sons, daughters, spouses, etc.., and none of this is an easy pill to swallow. So as I say a lot these days, please try to have empathy. Yes, it’s “big business,” but that doesn’t mean that we should talk about these layoffs devoid of humanity on here.

 

[BadPinkTink]

So then dont put on an act like your staff is so important to you. They love to say they are not like other companies (just like they say DVC isnt a time share) but when it actually comes down to it, they are.

Fyi, these layoffs seems to be arbitrary as they have been laying off very talented people.

buts thats just business. Most companies are the same, its corporate PR for customers. I worked for a multinational company, who like Disney have a feel good PR image. But behind the scenes, as an employee, its just the same , employees are just a number, and any one can be fired at any time. No one is indispensable.

I guess maybe people are having their Disney bubble burst and seeing the difference between the cusromer image and the employee reality.

 

[Brianstl]

So then dont put on an act like your staff is so important to you. They love to say they are not like other companies (just like they say DVC isnt a time share) but when it actually comes down to it, they are.

Fyi, these layoffs seems to be arbitrary as they have been laying off very talented people.

They aren’t laying the talented people off at the studios to this point. That is where they have had the most significant bleed and that is probably where they anticipate a quicker possible recovery if they play their cards right.

Also, almost every company tries to act like they are woke. It is easy to do in good times. When times are tough, you have to act like business. You have to make tough decisions that have unpleasant consequences and have to focus on what can actually generate a positive financial return.

 

[BK2014]

Just a thought, everyone saying oh Disney should do this, Disney should do that, does anyone actually own and run a business?? Does anyone have a business qualification and actually understand the financial decisions being made??

For 4 long years, a decade ago, I was the owner, president and majority shareholder of a corporation that had hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in revenue, and employed 1 employee -myself. So I completely understand the struggles Disney is facing right now, and better yet, I know how to fix them. If only I could get them to listen to me.

 

[RamblingMad]

buts thats just business. Most companies are the same, its corporate PR for customers. I worked for a multinational company, who like Disney have a feel good PR image. But behind the scenes, as an employee, its just the same , employees are just a number, and any one can be fired at any time. No one is indispensable.

I guess maybe people are having their Disney bubble burst and seeing the difference between the cusromer image and the employee reality.

This is why I would never work for Disney on the frontlines. The employee reality is far different from the customer perception of their reality. If I was at that stage in my career, I'd opt to work for Costco before trying to get a job at Disney.

 

[Disney Bobby]

Disney has been bleeding some talent over the last year. You cut peoples’ salaries, you give more people incentive to leave.

Also, you can’t just say they should take on more debt. Disney borrowing cost while not super high, have been accelerating rapidly. Any additional debt will really start to eat into revenues when we have a recovery.

Let's see if they eat into revenue for their tens of millions in bonuses.

 

[BK2014]

This is why I would never work for Disney on the frontlines. The employee reality is far different from the customer perception of their reality. If I was at that stage in my career, I'd opt to work for Costco before trying to get a job at Disney.

Not directed at RamblingMad, but other than with Disney, how many of us as customers even take the time to form a perception of what it must be like to be an employee at most of the business we patronize?

I know I don't. But I do know that it was a chance encounter/conversation with a really happy custodial castmember when I was in high school that led me to my desire to do the Disney College Program.