I guess this answers if Disney is recession-proof

[Mouseaholic!!!]

DH is sitting at his desk today at ABC waiting to hear if he is part of the company-wide layoff that is happening today.....January 29th.

Here is the first line of the announcement that was sent to the "Team" this morning.....company wide.....all divisions.


After months of making hard decisions across our businesses to help us adjust to a weakening economy, we’re now faced with the harsh reality of having to eliminate jobs in some areas.



My heart goes out to all who are cut today.

Not a happy time to have Mickey Mouse on your paycheck.

 

[Joeguitar]

Wow...that is terribly sad

Any more details on which business units its going to affect and how many people they are talking about? I haven't seen any news releases on this yet and am very curious.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

DH is safe for today....supervisor is gone, very sad.

Now THIS is only rumor......and we KNOW what rumors are worth.

40 in the News Division, 1,000 overall at Disney divisions - not counting the 600 executives announced earlier.

The truly frightening rumor is 4,000 more in March if things do not improve. I guess making a personal call to GM and asking them to pay two quarters of advertising dollars to ESPN wouldn't work. Alas, if it were just THAT easy.

DH's supervisor is truly a great guy. He always managed to schedule Jim's vacations so we could spend holidays together (DH lives in NYC and I live in Maryland caring for my 88 year old mother). He would bend over backwards for us.

Lets hope that March rumor is just - - - "bad hooey".


My heart is heavy for all these good people.

 

[Joeguitar]

DH is safe for today....supervisor is gone, very sad.

Now THIS is only rumor......and we KNOW what rumors are worth.

40 in the News Division, 1,000 overall at Disney divisions - not counting the 600 executives announced earlier.

The truly frightening rumor is 4,000 more in March if things do not improve. I guess making a personal call to GM and asking them to pay two quarters of advertising dollars to ESPN wouldn't work. Alas, if it were just THAT easy.

DH's supervisor is truly a great guy. He always managed to schedule Jim's vacations so we could spend holidays together (DH lives in NYC and I live in Maryland caring for my 88 year old mother). He would bend over backwards for us.

Lets hope that March rumor is just - - - "bad hooey".


My heart is heavy for all these good people.

Well I will be thinking about you guys for sure

It's hard to say about the March time frame....I'm confident the economy will get better this year (probably late Q3 or Q4,) but layoffs always lag behind a recovery.

Calling GM is liking getting blood from a stone...that is scary that it has come down to that. I know that after all of this, the Mouse will be better poised to dominate the media space. Just gonna be tough for a while.

 

[disney1990]

DH is safe for today....supervisor is gone, very sad.

Now THIS is only rumor......and we KNOW what rumors are worth.

40 in the News Division, 1,000 overall at Disney divisions - not counting the 600 executives announced earlier.

The truly frightening rumor is 4,000 more in March if things do not improve. I guess making a personal call to GM and asking them to pay two quarters of advertising dollars to ESPN wouldn't work. Alas, if it were just THAT easy.

DH's supervisor is truly a great guy. He always managed to schedule Jim's vacations so we could spend holidays together (DH lives in NYC and I live in Maryland caring for my 88 year old mother). He would bend over backwards for us.

Lets hope that March rumor is just - - - "bad hooey".


My heart is heavy for all these good people.

Hey Fellow Marylander. I am glad that you DH is safe for now. I certainly hope that the March rumor is really just a rumor.

I work for a major builder and, unfortunately, I was recently laid off; my last day is 2/13. I sure hope things start getting better.

 

[CandyMandy]

I'm confident the economy will get better this year (probably late Q3 or Q4,)

Not to be the pessimist here but based on what the analysts I work with see, I can't share your optimism. This is not just a 6 month long road bump. The fundamentals are all beyond bad, with consumer confidence crashing as unemployment rises and credit tightens. A vicious circle is emerging where negative news only begets less confidence and more fear and no, I don't see the so-called "stimulus" package resolving that quickly. This is likely going to be a long recession with a true rise in GDP only appearing sometime in mid 2010 or later.

 

[disnasia]

last week the whole asia regional marketing department at disney channel based in hong kong was let go (5 people). there are also rumors of upcoming cuts in tv (abc), internet group and consumer products. i wonder how next week's q1 results will look.

 

[Joeguitar]

Not to be the pessimist here but based on what the analysts I work with see, I can't share your optimism. This is not just a 6 month long road bump. The fundamentals are all beyond bad, with consumer confidence crashing as unemployment rises and credit tightens. A vicious circle is emerging where negative news only begets less confidence and more fear and no, I don't see the so-called "stimulus" package resolving that quickly. This is likely going to be a long recession with a true rise in GDP only appearing sometime in mid 2010 or later.

And certainly many minds disagree on this issue Ultimately none of us know for sure (and I have seen and understand the underlying fundamentals.) I am, by nature, an optimist so maybe when I say the economy will "get better" later this it means something a little different than it would if you said it.

What I mean is that I feel we will finally reach capitulation sometime during the middle of this year and we will be on our way up from there. Now, I am not so Pollyanna that I think that layoffs will stop and that earnings will get better, but I do think that those things will get better as time goes on. Again, I am an optimist and it could just go to heck in a hand basket But I really truly think better times are ahead (if history is any lesson.)

 

[crazy4wdw]

UPDATE 3-Disney plans 5 percent job cuts at ABC division
Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:12pm EST

* Lays off about 200 people at ABC

* Freezes another 200 jobs

* Reductions equivalent to 5 percent of ABC workforce

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co plans to lay off 200 people at its ABC division, a Disney executive familiar with the situation said, underscoring the media industry's struggle with sliding ad sales.

The media giant intends to also freeze 200 vacant jobs, resulting in an overall, 5 percent reduction of Disney-ABC TV Group's workforce of about 6,500 to 7,000, said the Disney source, who declined to be identified because the cuts had not been made public.

Disney said last week it planned to combine its two ABC divisions -- ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios -- into one umbrella organization, hoping to streamline the twin business units.

"After months of making hard decisions across our businesses to help us adjust to a weakening economy, we're now faced with the harsh reality of having to eliminate jobs in some areas," Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney-Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television, said in a memo sent to workers and obtained by Reuters.

"This was not an easy decision, nor one made lightly. The people affected today are our friends and colleagues, and we are doing all we can for them and their families during what we know will be a difficult transition."

ESPN, the sports cable network run by Disney, also plans to cut 200 jobs from its workforce of about 5,700 worldwide, an ESPN executive told Reuters. Those cuts were announced Wednesday by ESPN and ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer in a taped address on the firm's internal Web site.

Disney, as of September, employed about 150,000 people.

Disney, which like other media firms is trying to offset declining growth in advertising revenue, has also sent voluntary buyout offers to 600 executives at its domestic theme parks, to cut costs.

Estimates made late last year called for U.S. advertising spending to drop between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2009.

Disney is the latest, but probably not the last, to announce lay offs, and may have more cuts in store as it seeks to deliver the cost reductions Chief Executive Robert Iger promised.

Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) Warner Bros Entertainment last week announced 800 job cuts; General Electric Co's (GE.N) NBC Universal, CBS Corp (CBS.N) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N) made job cuts last year.

News Corp has not announced any job cuts at its studios.

Shares of Disney closed down 4.6 percent, at $21.25, on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Gina Keating; Writing by Edwin Chan, editing by Bernard Orr, Leslie Gevirtz)

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Hey Fellow Marylander. I am glad that you DH is safe for now. I certainly hope that the March rumor is really just a rumor.

I work for a major builder and, unfortunately, I was recently laid off; my last day is 2/13. I sure hope things start getting better.

Hello Maryland person.....Annapolis here.

I'm picking up DH tonight at the BWI Amtrak station. He needs to get away from NYC and come home for a few days to "heal". Yesterday was brutal.


Hey - I am really - VERY - sorry you lost your job. I worked for a company years ago which was slowly going out of business and it was agony to watch and be part of.

I am hoping our little part of the World may become a little insulated from the recession - at least as far as homes and building are concerned. BRAC is going to begin to bring in jobs later in 2009 and many more in 2010. The western end of AA County should do very well.


Perhaps now more people will take a look at these horrible job-loss numbers and realize each is a person....a family.....friends. It touches all of us.

Our local paper fired 111 yesterday including the finance of one of my co-workers.....and SHE had the health insurance.

I have added these people to my daily prayer list. Good luck to each and everyone one of them.

 

[esulerzy]

Hello Maryland person.....Annapolis here.

Our local paper fired 111 yesterday including the finance of one of my co-workers.....and SHE had the health insurance.

Mouseaholic, Eastern Shore here By "local paper" did you mean the Capital? Wondering because I have a friend there that I haven't heard from in a while.....am a little worried.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Mouseaholic, Eastern Shore here By "local paper" did you mean the Capital? Wondering because I have a friend there that I haven't heard from in a while.....am a little worried.

Yes, I'm afraid so. The paper has gotten so small because of the loss in advertising revenue.

You may want to give your friend a call.

edited to add.....


By the way, my "city guy" husband LOVES the Eastern Shore!

 

[Ginamarie]

My DH is also an employee of ABC News. It looks like his job is safe, but his manager said that there are more changes yet to come. I know a couple of people who were laid off yesterday and my heart goes out to them. Today was their last day!

 

[Joeguitar]

My DH is also an employee of ABC News. It looks like his job is safe, but his manager said that there are more changes yet to come. I know a couple of people who were laid off yesterday and my heart goes out to them. Today was their last day!

I have a lot of friends who are having their last day in the next few weeks. It's always difficult, but they are all intelligent, capable, and I'm confident they will bounce-back better than ever

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

My DH is also an employee of ABC News. It looks like his job is safe, but his manager said that there are more changes yet to come. I know a couple of people who were laid off yesterday and my heart goes out to them. Today was their last day!

I'm happy our DH is safe.

My DH is a 30 year veteran of ABC - going there right out of college. He has watched people go the last few years of Disney's enforced downsizing but yesterday hit home wth a close friend.

He is shaken.

I hope both of our husbands are safe this year.

 

[disney1990]

Hello Maryland person.....Annapolis here.

I'm picking up DH tonight at the BWI Amtrak station. He needs to get away from NYC and come home for a few days to "heal". Yesterday was brutal.


Hey - I am really - VERY - sorry you lost your job. I worked for a company years ago which was slowly going out of business and it was agony to watch and be part of.

I am hoping our little part of the World may become a little insulated from the recession - at least as far as homes and building are concerned. BRAC is going to begin to bring in jobs later in 2009 and many more in 2010. The western end of AA County should do very well.


Perhaps now more people will take a look at these horrible job-loss numbers and realize each is a person....a family.....friends. It touches all of us.

Our local paper fired 111 yesterday including the finance of one of my co-workers.....and SHE had the health insurance.

I have added these people to my daily prayer list. Good luck to each and everyone one of them.

Thanks for the good wishes. We are in Bowie and Annapolis is our weekend stomping ground. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary at the new PF Changs last weekend.

I worked for a company 8 years ago that went under -- I saw the light right before they closed the doors and found the job I just lost. I'm with you, I hope things improve soon. Take care.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

UPDATE 3-Disney plans 5 percent job cuts at ABC division
Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:12pm EST

Anaheim sent a letter today. Husband shaken but still probably safe because of his union.

Next round begins with a buyout. If there are not enough takers....they will fire the balance of 17% MORE.

Deadline - 18 February.

Word is this one is company wide as well.

 

[lxh11]

Mouseaholic can you be more specific.

Anaheim sent a letter today. Husband shaken but still probably safe because of his union.
Who in Anaheim, and to whom was the letter sent?

Next round begins with a buyout. If there are not enough takers....they will fire the balance of 17% MORE.
What division are you referring to?

Deadline - 18 February.
Again deadline for whom and for what?

Word is this one is company wide as well.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Florida chiming in here.

We were told flat out there would be no buy-out offers like they did in 2001. That was for execs only.

It will be layoffs. DH works in Engineering, and they were told flat out there would be layoffs in his division, and quickly. That was last (week ago) Friday. Nothing happened this week, so we expect something to happen this coming week.
Both DH and I have worked at Disney for over 30 years, prime candidates for a layoff!!!

No numbers or % targets were given.

 

[anetnmike]

Marita,I'm so sorry that you and your DH are facing such uncertainty after spending the last 30 years making so many people happy. It is the essence of what you were doing. These times are so difficult. I hope and pray that relief comes soon for you and for all of us.