Disney Announces Layoffs of 28,000 Workers at Its Theme Parks

Disney announced a layoff of 28,000 workers at its theme parks, as the company’s chairman in charge of parks and experiences explained the “difficult decisions” in a letter to employees.

According to a CNBC report, the worldwide entertainment company will officially end its furlough of nearly 30,000 employees who had been idled since February when the parks first closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. The job cuts are contained to just those employees working at Disneyland and California Adventure parks, and roughly two-thirds of the layoffs affect part-time workers.

The company’s flagship park in Florida, Walt Disney World, has already reopened with limited capacity, as have overseas parks in Europe and Asia. However, Hong Kong Disneyland just reopened for the second time this year on Monday, after it initial relaunch was shut down when cases reappeared in Hong Kong over the summer.

In a letter to the company, Chairman Josh D’Amaro attributed the necessity of the cuts to the prolonged closure of the California parks.

Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, we were forced to close our businesses around the world. Few of us could have imagined how significantly the pandemic would impact us — both at work and in our daily lives. We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. 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.

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As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic.

Though Disney has acquired numerous entertainment properties, movie studios, and launched its own streaming service recently, its theme parks still play a vital role in the company’s finances, accounting for more than a third of its $69.6 billion in total revenue in 2019.