28,000 Employees Laid Off At Disneyland, Walt Disney World

ANAHEIM, CA — Disneyland and Walt Disney World laid off as many as 28,000 U.S.-based employees Tuesday, the company announced. The layoffs encompass jobs across the company's Parks, Experiences and Products divisions, a spokesperson for the resort told Patch.

Park President Josh D'Amaro announced the decision in a blanket statement to park employees, blaming coronavirus's impacts on business.

Disneyland Resort has been closed for nearly seven months and awaited updates from the state regarding a reopening plan. Thus far, no strategy toward reopening has been laid out, D'Amaro said.

"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 — exacerbated in California by the State's unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen — we have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels, having kept non-working Cast Members on furlough since April, while paying healthcare benefits."

Disneyland has "been forced to reduce the size of our team across executive, salaried, and hourly roles," D'Amaro wrote. He called the action "heartbreaking."

"Unfortunately, this is what we've feared for the past couple of weeks," city of Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster told Patch.

"Without guidance and something to plan toward, our fear was that large layoffs would happen, as is the case today," he says.

According to Lyster, many Anaheim hotels are in a similar situation, with impending layoffs due to lack of a reopening plan.

"You keep people on the books, you continue to pay the employer share of health care," Lyster said. "That can't continue forever."

Walt Disney Co. recently reported sharp year-over-year third-quarter revenue drops, due in part to the coronavirus-prompted closure of its theme parks. Disney reported third-quarter revenue of $11.8 billion, a 42 percent drop from last year's third quarter.

The company's Parks, Experiences and Products segment saw an 85 percent revenue drop from the third quarter of last year.

The company had originally planned to reopen its Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks in Anaheim on July 17, but those plans were scrapped as the state saw a surge of coronavirus cases. That surge prompted a delay in the state's release of operating protocols for large venues such as theme parks.

The Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment district reopened to the public July 9, although some individual businesses remained closed.

Seeing positions eliminated is devastating, with thousands in the Southlands now laid off, according to Lyster.

Though Disney declined to say how many workers were affected in California, Lyster said "we are talking thousands of Anaheim residents. About 5 percent of Disneyland employees live in Anaheim. The remainder drive in from across Southern California."

"We don't expect the parks to open tomorrow, but guidelines allow us to have something to plan for," Lyster said. "A critical part of crisis is recovery planning. That is what we've been missing. Our big employers drive the economy, and they need direction."

Orange County has made extensive progress to curtail the spread of the coronavirus since July. The city of Anaheim has been hard hit, with over 9,000 people having tested positive for the coronavirus.

"This brings home how serious coronavirus is," Lyster said. "We can protect the health of our city while also safely and gradually moving forward. We've all been living this every day, starting to do more things carefully. We all need to embrace a safe, responsible third way.

"Not the way things were a year ago, but we need to embrace where we are now," he said. "Be strategic about when you go out and how you do things. This is our new way of life for the meantime. If we embrace it, there is a path forward."

Disneyland Resort said it will be scheduling appointments with its affected salaried and non-union hourly employees over the next few days. Discussions between the parks and the unions were expected to begin right away.

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