Disney Expands Layoff Total To 32,000 Workers
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LOS ANGELES, CA — Walt Disney Co. layoffs will be worse than originally anticipated, the entertainment giant announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday.
The "Happiest Place on Earth" will lay off another 4,000 employees in the first half of 2021. On the eve of Thanksgiving, the company announced that 32,000 employees would lose their jobs instead of the 28,000 reported in September, after the coronavirus pandemic forced Disneyland to shutter for most of 2020. The bulk of the layoffs will hit the company’s parks division.
"Due to the current climate, including COVID-19 impacts, and changing environment in which we are operating, the company has generated efficiencies in its staffing, including limiting hiring to critical business roles, furloughs and reductions-in-force," Disney announced in Wednesday's SEC filing.
Disneyland, the largest employer in Anaheim, California, has been closed by state order since March. Disney officials slammed California’s leadership over what they called onerous health restrictions that forced the company to delay reopening indefinitely.
Walt Disney World reopened in Orlando, Florida, in July, following a series of safety overhauls including limited capacity. And the company’s theme park in Paris reopened but was forced to shut down again last month when France ordered a new lockdown as COVID-19 cases surged again in Europe.
"As some of our businesses have reopened, we have incurred additional costs to address government regulations and the safety of our employees, talent and guests," the company said in the SEC filing, USA Today reported. "The reopening or closure of our businesses is dependent on applicable government requirements, which vary by location, are subject to ongoing changes, which could result from increasing COVID-19 cases."
Another 37,000 employees remained furloughed, and Disneyland reported $1.1 billion in losses from its parks, products and experiences segment in the quarter partially offset by gains in other divisions, USA Today reported.
This article originally appeared on the Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch
