Blaming prolonged closures and limited attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic, Disney has announced it’s laying off 28,000 theme park employees.
Breaking the news in a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, Disney Parks Director Josh D’Amaro said the decision came after months of working “tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company.” He went on to write, “As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy. We’ve cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our cast members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible. However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.” It’s unclear when the employees will be asked to leave.
BREAKING: Disney to layoff 28,000 employees as coronavirus slams its theme park business https://t.co/L23JdMXsXA
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) September 29, 2020
While Disney’s theme parks in Florida, Paris, Japan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong have been allowed to reopen with limited capacities, California’s Disneyland and California Adventure remain closed.
Did Disney do a nice thing by waiting this long? Or is there a way out of this financial jam that doesn’t involve laying off 28,000 employees?
