The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) expressed plans of cutting its workforce by 28 thousand jobs on Tuesday. The layoff, it added, will primarily affect theme parks in the United States where COVID-19 continues to weigh on visitor numbers. Disneyland California is still closed for the public.
The Walt Disney Company published its earnings report in August that highlighted £3.61 billion of net GAAP loss in the fiscal third quarter. Its revenue in Q3 came in weaker than what the experts had forecast due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
In separate news, Britain’s Morrisons created over 1,000 jobs to pick and pack orders for its services on Amazon.
Chairman Josh D’Amaro’s comments on Tuesday
Disney also highlighted in its statement that nearly 65% of these positions will be part-time. Disney was pushed into temporarily closing its worldwide theme parks in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 7.4 million people in the United States and caused over 210 thousand deaths.
Chairman Josh D’Amaro of the parks unit commented late on Tuesday and said:
“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.”
D’Amaro also highlighted that Disney prioritised suspending projects, slashing expenses, and streamlining operations in recent months to avoid layoffs. The entertainment conglomerate kept its furloughed employees eligible for health benefits since April.
“However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.”
Disney’s performance in the stock market
Before the pandemic, Walt Disney World (Florida) had a headcount of 77 thousand, including both part-time and full-time workers.
