Disney To Lay Off 28,000 Workers From Theme Parks In California & Florida

Source: MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Getty

COVID-19 and Donald Trump’s unwillingness to do something about it continue to impact industries across the country.

Employees who work for Disney parks in both Florida and California were at the receiving end of some bad news this week, getting a memo from their employer announcing that they are planning on laying off a whopping 28,000 people. Unsurprisingly, this decision was attributed to the substantial COVID-19-induced attendance losses experienced by those tourist attractions. According to reports from the Associated Press, part-time employees will make up two-thirds of the layoffs, but some salaried and hourly workers will still be included in the lay-offs.

Back in March, Disneyland and Disney World parks shut down as a result of the pandemic. While the Florida attraction opened back up in July, California’s Disneyland and California Adventure both remain shut as the company continues to wait on the state to tell them what to do. Disney’s chairman of Disney Parks, Experience and Product, Josh DÁmaro, blamed California’s “unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen” on worsening the company’s situation.

DÁmaro went on to say that management tried to stave off layoffs via cost-cutting measures in other parts of the business, but limits on the numbers of people who could come into the parks—in addition to social distancing guidelines and other actions intended to mitigate COVID’s spread—were too much for the company to overcome.

Officials for Disney say that severance packages will be given to employees (with the caveat being that this will only be for some of those laid off) and that there will be an offer to help workers get other jobs. Disney World in Florida has about 77,000 employees and the Resort in California has over 30,000.