logo Disney plans targeted hiring freeze and job cuts, according to a memo from CEO Bob Chapek

[shh]

aaand Comcast/Universal is loving every minute of it - the worse the Disney experience gets, the better they do. Their Epic Universe park is moving at light speed while Disney hems, haws, huffs, puffs, delays and cheaps out as much as they can on a new attraction or a couple of refurbs. Crazy. (How long has that iconic MK train been out of service now?)

 

[PBB]

Funny, They didn’t cut any Executives! Anyone who has an MBA needs to be on the chopping block. They view the world based on their bonuses vs. the long term stability of the company. This company can’t even turn over a clean room by 3 or 4 pm depending if your a cash or DVC member. The great MBA’ers solution to housekeeping being late with rooms. Change the confirmation letter to say your room will be ready “After 4 PM” instead of “At 4pm”. This proves they don’t give a damn about the guest experience anymore.

This statement by Chapek show’s he has to go..……

“We love all our fans equally. We love the superfans, obviously. But we also like the fans that don’t have the same expression of their fandom. We want to make sure that our superfans who love to come with annual passes and use [the parks] as their personal playground — we love that. We celebrate that. But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that there’s room in the park for the family from Denver that comes once every five years. We didn’t have a reservation system and we didn’t control the number of annual passes we distributed and frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them and that family from Denver would get to the park and not be let in. That doesn’t seem like a real balanced proposition.”

This BOD led by an executive with Beauty and Make Up background From the Carlyle Group. The last three years has shown she is not capable of leading this BOD just as Bob Chapek isn’t capable of leading this company. Neither has background in films or TV . While Chapek started in Janitorial at the parks. Funny that the parks are so dirty. He made money on Merchandise! He bought cheap crappy merchandise from China
and charged top dollar. All the food operations run by Disney are terrible. They are more worried about making the side orders fit in a 1/2 cup measuring cup than the food tasting good. Running a restaurant by accountants will fail every time. This is why your Superfans don’t spend money! You turn out products that aren’t worth spending their hard earned money! The same reason Corporate America stopped sponsoring rides and pavilions!

The stock prices are the same as they were during the pandemic 2-/12 years ago. So, the institutional investors look like idiots investing in this regime. They haven’t made their customers a penny who are invested long term. Way to go Bob! You didn’t even thank the guests who were at the 50th Anniversary at WDW! You coware from going to or even addressing D23 last year. I am really looking forward to his upcoming book……How ldestroy an American Icon by lack of leadership and incompetence.

Sorry for the rant…….

 

[DarthSkellington]

So little peek behind the curtain atleast on the engineering side. Was down last week doing an interview and tour around backstage and a bit under the parks. Couple of items that were told to me:
1. Disney infrastructure in many places is now 50+ years old. In a normal jurisdiction this would be replacement time. Disney has no plans to do this and will only "patch" issues as they come up. That's a big deal.
2. Disney has communicated 0 to the engineers on how they plan to handle the dissolution of the reedy creek improvement district. This has led to extreme anxiety within Disney employees and the district. Many are looking elsewhere.
3. Even on an interview when I met with some of the higher ups the mission is clear, streamline, money saving, cost cutting. I would never take a job like that but this is a dangerous road to take for critical infrastructure.

Chapek has his trademarks everywhere and it's not sustainable.

 

[jimim]

I hate to be the first to say the obvious, but how about a paycheck cut for the tippy top of the food chain, Bob?

I read the article on all ears and thst was my first thought along with all the top executives but you know it will be all the daily workers who will be let go or froze and everyone will have to pick up the slack while the suits hang in their office.

 

[Disney Bobby]

So little peek behind the curtain atleast on the engineering side. Was down last week doing an interview and tour around backstage and a bit under the parks. Couple of items that were told to me:
1. Disney infrastructure in many places is now 50+ years old. In a normal jurisdiction this would be replacement time. Disney has no plans to do this and will only "patch" issues as they come up. That's a big deal.
2. Disney has communicated 0 to the engineers on how they plan to handle the dissolution of the reedy creek improvement district. This has led to extreme anxiety within Disney employees and the district. Many are looking elsewhere.
3. Even on an interview when I met with some of the higher ups the mission is clear, streamline, money saving, cost cutting. I would never take a job like that but this is a dangerous road to take for critical infrastructure.

Chapek has his trademarks everywhere and it's not sustainable.

Not sure if this is true or not, but I was chatting with a guy on the monorail a few years ago that claimed to have previously worked in IT for Disney, and he claimed that in some places, they were still running Windows 95. Could be a complete lie, but that's what he said.

 

[middlechild]

Not sure if this is true or not, but I was chatting with a guy on the monorail a few years ago that claimed to have previously worked in IT for Disney, and he claimed that in some places, they were still running Windows 95. Could be a complete lie, but that's what he said.

Anyone else remember Okidata 182 dot matrix printers? Setting up serial port connections? Totally unknown if Win 95 in use or not, but if something has been working...
https://yourmileagemayvary.net/2022/06/13/why-do-they-still-use-dot-matrix-printers-at-airports/

 

[Disney Bobby]

Anyone else remember Okidata 182 dot matrix printers? Setting up serial port connections? Totally unknown if Win 95 in use or not, but if something has been working...
https://yourmileagemayvary.net/2022/06/13/why-do-they-still-use-dot-matrix-printers-at-airports/

I never used that model, but I had an okimate 10 printer for my Atari computer. Lots of places are still way behind with Windows upgrades, especially on stand-alone, single purpose machines.

 

[shh]

So little peek behind the curtain atleast on the engineering side. Was down last week doing an interview and tour around backstage and a bit under the parks. Couple of items that were told to me:
1. Disney infrastructure in many places is now 50+ years old. In a normal jurisdiction this would be replacement time. Disney has no plans to do this and will only "patch" issues as they come up. That's a big deal.
2. Disney has communicated 0 to the engineers on how they plan to handle the dissolution of the reedy creek improvement district. This has led to extreme anxiety within Disney employees and the district. Many are looking elsewhere.
3. Even on an interview when I met with some of the higher ups the mission is clear, streamline, money saving, cost cutting. I would never take a job like that but this is a dangerous road to take for critical infrastructure.

Chapek has his trademarks everywhere and it's not sustainable.

Yup...cutting and slicing your way down to profit by eroding the guest experience and aggravating the maximum number of customers sure sounds like a tried and true business strategy. lol. Quite a few companies that took that path are now in the corporate graveyard.

 

[movie77]

Go woke go broke. Both Thor and Buzz Lightyear majorly underperformed this summer due to Disney forgetting who their customer base is. Strange world is also going to bomb. If they continue down this road the company is finished long term.

 

[jerry557]

1. Maybe Bob should have focused more on those abysmal guest satisfaction scores the past few years instead of injecting himself and the company into political debates with the Florida government for things that have no chance of changing. The fact Chapek did that has only complicated matters now with Reedy Creek. This is a problem Disney itself created.
2. Maybe Disney should go back to making good movies again instead of focusing on destroying every franchise it gets its hands on. (The new Indiana Jones movie looks like another colossal bust incoming).
3. Maybe Disney should start focusing on the guest experience again. Genie+ is a disaster. The park reservations is a joke. Every other theme park in the industry has done away with it. Why won't Disney restart selling annual passes? Every other theme park company sells them. Etc...
4. Maybe Chapek and the board should stop taking multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses until the financial situation is fixed.

 

[Sun_soakin]

I worked for a Fortune 100 company for many years as a director. His email is almost identical to ones we received during recessions and downturn economic times. I'm not excusing him and I'm not a Chapek fan, but this is the same as any other major company. So many companies are announcing major layoffs daily right now.

You limit travel and conference attendance, freeze open positions, offer early retirement, keep hiring in the necessary areas (CMs, nurses, whatever needed for that industry), and cross your fingers at the administrative and corporate levels that you don't get the boot. From my experience (not that I was laid off) and my former company, if you did get the boot you got a pretty good severance package (not that it makes it less painful).

And it isn't always the low men/women on the totem poll, there are plenty of middle managers and up who get the notice, too.

Just my two cents FWIW.

Agreed. It’s actually oddly generic and uninspiring. Can’t see why anyone would want to stay on board.

 

[Minnie1222]

So little peek behind the curtain atleast on the engineering side. Was down last week doing an interview and tour around backstage and a bit under the parks. Couple of items that were told to me:
1. Disney infrastructure in many places is now 50+ years old. In a normal jurisdiction this would be replacement time. Disney has no plans to do this and will only "patch" issues as they come up. That's a big deal.
2. Disney has communicated 0 to the engineers on how they plan to handle the dissolution of the reedy creek improvement district. This has led to extreme anxiety within Disney employees and the district. Many are looking elsewhere.
3. Even on an interview when I met with some of the higher ups the mission is clear, streamline, money saving, cost cutting. I would never take a job like that but this is a dangerous road to take for critical infrastructure.

Chapek has his trademarks everywhere and it's not sustainable.

Obviously, no current Disney employees can confirm or deny these statements due to the nondisclosure agreements.

I'm not saying that this didn't happen, but that's a lot of information being disclosed to a potential hire.

Yes, we all know that the infrastructure in some places are 50+ years old. We are currently celebrating Magic Kingdom's 50th anniversary.

 

[DarthSkellington]

Obviously, no current Disney employees can confirm or deny these statements due to the nondisclosure agreements.

I'm not saying that this didn't happen, but that's a lot of information being disclosed to a potential hire.

Yes, we all know that the infrastructure in some places are 50+ years old. We are currently celebrating Magic Kingdom's 50th anniversary.

I'm not really sure why you would doubt the authenticity of my statements there's nothing really earth shattering I posted there. I was interviewing for a civil engineering position and these are pretty routine items that would come up in an interview of a position of that nature. The infrastructure age wasn't really the point, the point is they aren't doing what your normal town/city would do when reaching critical lifespan.

 

[OKW Lover]

So little peek behind the curtain atleast on the engineering side. Was down last week doing an interview and tour around backstage and a bit under the parks. Couple of items that were told to me:
1. Disney infrastructure in many places is now 50+ years old. In a normal jurisdiction this would be replacement time. Disney has no plans to do this and will only "patch" issues as they come up. That's a big deal.
2. Disney has communicated 0 to the engineers on how they plan to handle the dissolution of the reedy creek improvement district. This has led to extreme anxiety within Disney employees and the district. Many are looking elsewhere.
3. Even on an interview when I met with some of the higher ups the mission is clear, streamline, money saving, cost cutting. I would never take a job like that but this is a dangerous road to take for critical infrastructure.

Chapek has his trademarks everywhere and it's not sustainable.

This raises several questions in my mind. It might be helpful if @DarthSkellington could mention just what type of position this would be for so we could understand what part of the company we are talking about.

1 - of course some of the infrastructure is 50 years old. There is also some very new infrastructure. Can we narrow down "infrastructure" as it relates to this comment? Is the suggestion that the Castle will soon fall into the first floor of the MK? The Contemporary will revert from an A-frame to a ground level resort? Is SpaceShip earth (which is only 40 years old) going to fall off its foundations and wind up in the middle of the parking lot? Are the roadways failing? How about the power lines, gas piping and steam/chilled water system?

2 - The potential dissolution of RCID doesn't really have any effect on the engineers. It's a government issue that may, or may not happen. In the mean time the engineers are obligated to continue their work as normal. That may be cause for anxiety on the individual but that's the nature of the beast.

3 - You could be part of the solution.

 

[DarthSkellington]

This raises several questions in my mind. It might be helpful if @DarthSkellington could mention just what type of position this would be for so we could understand what part of the company we are talking about.

1 - of course some of the infrastructure is 50 years old. There is also some very new infrastructure. Can we narrow down "infrastructure" as it relates to this comment? Is the suggestion that the Castle will soon fall into the first floor of the MK? The Contemporary will revert from an A-frame to a ground level resort? Is SpaceShip earth (which is only 40 years old) going to fall off its foundations and wind up in the middle of the parking lot? Are the roadways failing? How about the power lines, gas piping and steam/chilled water system?

2 - The potential dissolution of RCID doesn't really have any effect on the engineers. It's a government issue that may, or may not happen. In the mean time the engineers are obligated to continue their work as normal. That may be cause for anxiety on the individual but that's the nature of the beast.

3 - You could be part of the solution.

OK I will expound a bit. I was interviewing for a position that would be a part of FAM, and also a bit for the imagineering department. This was a civil engineering role.
1. I probably did cause a bit of confusion on what infrastructure civil engineers tend to deal with. We handle utility design, grading, property matters, basically everything on a site from the surface down. Once you go vertical you get more into architects and structural engineers. So think sewer, storm, electric, drainage related issues(can be a big deal), dealing with flood related regulations, transportation etc.
2. It's a false statement to think the RCID has nothing to do with engineers. It literally relates to almost everything they do on property. Those relationships, plan approvals, approval process, infrastructure inventory, maintenance responsibilities are an invisible line all over the property that is very nuanced and requires a ton of cooperation.
3. My interview process lasted 5 months with 4 interviews concluding with a 7 hour onsite interview, I gathered a lot of information over this time obviously. Interviewing with a total of 15 different people. Some people talked a bit, others did not. I also asked pointed questions that I felt were important. These are good people working in this area that love Disney and the smiling faces they see in the parks. They just aren't being properly equipped, or compensated.

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks for the further clarification. Having retired from a combination electric/gas utility (but not in the engineering area) I've got a bit of understanding about that kind of infrastructure.

I guess I'd just add that the existing engineers need to be carrying on as best they can despite the potential dissolution of RCID. Even if the entity goes away, the need to maintain infrastructure doesn't.

 

[wabbott]

This is where DIS makes it's money, and where it doesn't.

I did this calc for last quarter's earnings, and this is for the latest quarter and year


THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER and FULL YEAR EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2022
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/app/uploads/2022/11/q4-fy22-earnings.pdf

Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution Division: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ Hotstar; and domestic broadcast and cable television networks.
For quarter ended 9/30/22: Revenues: $12.725 billion - Operating profit: $.083 billion (0.67% return)
For year ended 9/30/22: Revenues: $55.040 billion - Operating profit: $4.216 billion (7.66% return)

Parks, Experiences and Products Division: Parks, Cruise Line, Resorts, Merchandise.
For quarter ended 9/30/22: Revenues: $7.425 billion - Operating profit: $1.514 billion (20.39% return
For year ended 9/30/22: Revenues: $28.705 billion - Operating profit: $7.905 billion (27.54% return)

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-...d-insights/articles/what-is-operating-profit/

Operating profit is the total income a company generates from sales after paying off all operating expenses, such as rent, employee payroll, equipment and inventory costs. The operating profit figure excludes gains or losses from interest, taxes and investments.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

This raises several questions in my mind. It might be helpful if @DarthSkellington could mention just what type of position this would be for so we could understand what part of the company we are talking about.

1 - of course some of the infrastructure is 50 years old. There is also some very new infrastructure. Can we narrow down "infrastructure" as it relates to this comment? Is the suggestion that the Castle will soon fall into the first floor of the MK? The Contemporary will revert from an A-frame to a ground level resort? Is SpaceShip earth (which is only 40 years old) going to fall off its foundations and wind up in the middle of the parking lot? Are the roadways failing? How about the power lines, gas piping and steam/chilled water system?

2 - The potential dissolution of RCID doesn't really have any effect on the engineers. It's a government issue that may, or may not happen. In the mean time the engineers are obligated to continue their work as normal. That may be cause for anxiety on the individual but that's the nature of the beast.

3 - You could be part of the solution.

It appears you may have a misunderstanding of the RCID matter. The law that was passed setting up the dissolution of the RCID did pass, was signed by the Governor and became law. It did become effective. The law states the dissolution will be effective as of next June 1st. So, we are well past saying it may or may not happen. The pundits also railed about the government having to do certain steps first including in relation to the bonds. They rely on another statute that says so. However, they failed to read the bill that passed which excepted this dissolution from those requirements. So, there has been substantial misinformation out there regarding the matter of RCID. I expect another district will be formed with jurisdiction over the same area and functions as those of the soon to be former Reedy Creek. However, this one will be governed by government officials instead of by Disney appointees or perhaps some combination but with control with the participating government bodies.

While many have shrugged off the dissolution of RCID as a minor kerfluffle, in fact it is a very big deal for Disney in terms of park and land use development, environmental compliance and the permitting process. Engineers are inextricably involved like lawyers and the court system or doctors and the healthcare delivery system. Quite frankly, the dissolution of Reedy Creek may be the elephant in the room right now and may explain a great deal behind the park overcrowding without new projects on the horizon, maintenance issues and general park conditions. In all likelihood Disney engineers are probably waiting and watching everyday to glean some kind of information about where this is going. Disney’s radio silence cannot be helping the stress this creates.

 

[Disney Bobby]

It appears you may have a misunderstanding of the RCID matter. The law that was passed setting up the dissolution of the RCID did pass, was signed by the Governor and became law. It did become effective. The law states the dissolution will be effective as of next June 1st. So, we are well past saying it may or may not happen. The pundits also railed about the government having to do certain steps first including in relation to the bonds. They rely on another statute that says so. However, they failed to read the bill that passed which excepted this dissolution from those requirements. So, there has been substantial misinformation out there regarding the matter of RCID. I expect another district will be formed with jurisdiction over the same area and functions as those of the soon to be former Reedy Creek. However, this one will be governed by government officials instead of by Disney appointees or perhaps some combination but with control with the participating government bodies.

While many have shrugged off the dissolution of RCID as a minor kerfluffle, in fact it is a very big deal for Disney in terms of park and land use development, environmental compliance and the permitting process. Engineers are inextricably involved like lawyers and the court system or doctors and the healthcare delivery system. Quite frankly, the dissolution of Reedy Creek may be the elephant in the room right now and may explain a great deal behind the park overcrowding without new projects on the horizon, maintenance issues and general park conditions. In all likelihood Disney engineers are probably waiting and watching everyday to glean some kind of information about where this is going. Disney’s radio silence cannot be helping the stress this creates.

Very interesting. Thanks for that summary.

 

[New Mouse]

Funny, They didn’t cut any Executives! Anyone who has an MBA needs to be on the chopping block. They view the world based on their bonuses vs. the long term stability of the company. This company can’t even turn over a clean room by 3 or 4 pm depending if your a cash or DVC member. The great MBA’ers solution to housekeeping being late with rooms. Change the confirmation letter to say your room will be ready “After 4 PM” instead of “At 4pm”. This proves they don’t give a damn about the guest experience anymore.

This statement by Chapek show’s he has to go..……

“We love all our fans equally. We love the superfans, obviously. But we also like the fans that don’t have the same expression of their fandom. We want to make sure that our superfans who love to come with annual passes and use [the parks] as their personal playground — we love that. We celebrate that. But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that there’s room in the park for the family from Denver that comes once every five years. We didn’t have a reservation system and we didn’t control the number of annual passes we distributed and frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them and that family from Denver would get to the park and not be let in. That doesn’t seem like a real balanced proposition.”

This BOD led by an executive with Beauty and Make Up background From the Carlyle Group. The last three years has shown she is not capable of leading this BOD just as Bob Chapek isn’t capable of leading this company. Neither has background in films or TV . While Chapek started in Janitorial at the parks. Funny that the parks are so dirty. He made money on Merchandise! He bought cheap crappy merchandise from China
and charged top dollar. All the food operations run by Disney are terrible. They are more worried about making the side orders fit in a 1/2 cup measuring cup than the food tasting good. Running a restaurant by accountants will fail every time. This is why your Superfans don’t spend money! You turn out products that aren’t worth spending their hard earned money! The same reason Corporate America stopped sponsoring rides and pavilions!

The stock prices are the same as they were during the pandemic 2-/12 years ago. So, the institutional investors look like idiots investing in this regime. They haven’t made their customers a penny who are invested long term. Way to go Bob! You didn’t even thank the guests who were at the 50th Anniversary at WDW! You coware from going to or even addressing D23 last year. I am really looking forward to his upcoming book……How ldestroy an American Icon by lack of leadership and incompetence.

Sorry for the rant…….

Is that quote from Chapek real? If so he's dumb as a brick and that's probably insulting to the brick.