Walt Disney Co Layoffs About This Page:

[jams67]

Here is a link for a story about layoffs in the Walt Disney Co.

WFMZ-TV

I was surprised at the "600 executives in the parks division" fact. I never would have thought there were so many.

for those being faced with or who have been layed off.

Julie

[wvugrrrl]

You know, when the story first broke a few weeks back that Disney would be doing a lot of layoffs of execs, I was really amazed. But then I started reading Disney War by James Stewart, and I was absolutely blown away by how many VP's, CEO's, and Presidents the company has scattered throughout all its various divisions. The way Stewart explains it is that because Michael Eisner didn't want any one person to usurp his power, so he just kept giving people titles, but no major responsibilities. Anyway, rambling aside, when I read that there are "600 execs in park divisions," I'm not really surprised anymore, and quite frankly, it's probably a good thing - they're working to trim all the excess created during Eisner's less-than-stellar later years.

[chezp]

Very sad to see that.

[home4us123]

Thanks for the link.

[Colexis Mom]

Yikes!!

[home4us123]

Here is another article I just read. Disney plans resorts reorganization, layoffs -- OrlandoSentinel.com

[KMB733]

Thanks for the link. And thanks Molly for all the information.

[Disneydiana]

Thanks for the links!

[Griffin]

Laying off people and working on a new park in china. <robot voice> this does not compute!

Oh, I know about the funding, still seems a bit off to me.

[Caldercup]

Keep in mind that the park in China is going to be massively funded by the Chinese government...

Additionally, it's a prudent move to reduce manpower in an area of a corporation that is not bringing in the revenue currently while investing in another area of the corporation that has great potential to bring in the revenue -- something China will most definitely do for Disney (at minimal investment to themselves.)
Eileen

[katspjs]

I feel for those that are losing their jobs. But this is probably a good way to trim the fat so to speak and possibly get their business streamlined.

[bradk]

just to clarify, there are more than 600 execs. 600 is the number that were asked to leave early (that doesn't mean they'd be left with 0). a little more than half were in orlando (the rest being in anaheim). perhaps it should be more surprising that there were that many for anaheim if anything. (at least in comparison to orlando).

the current move is to consolidate operations for the parks. you'd be amazed at just how separate DLR and WDW are handled and that's probably for good reason. I don't think this bodes too well for WDW or perhaps either park to be honest. it was handled as two separate theme parks for logistical reasons in addition to geographic and now it'll just be putting much more on the plates for those that survive the transition.

[doombuggy]

While this probably won't effect me (it better not!), it might effect some people I know (such as the spouse of my boss here at the office). Losing a job right now would hurt!

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Caldercup

Keep in mind that the park in China is going to be massively funded by the Chinese government...

Additionally, it's a prudent move to reduce manpower in an area of a corporation that is not bringing in the revenue currently while investing in another area of the corporation that has great potential to bring in the revenue -- something China will most definitely do for Disney (at minimal investment to themselves.)
Eileen

I agree with the above, although China may not be as rosey a prospect as Disney originally thought.....

As the rest of the world scales back it's expenditure China's economy is also going to suffer, and as a result of that the disposable income of Chinese "guests" will also be hit. Just look at where most of the merchandice for sale in WDW comes from . . . yep, China!

If the parks in the US are suffering, less is being sold, so less money is going to China, so the Chinese workers are going to have less to spend at their local Disney park. And don't forget it's not just Disney that buys a lot of "stuff" from China, the whole of the Western World (US & UK included) buy a LOT of things from China, and the orders for goods are starting to slow down, or dry up altogether.

There are numerous stories around of entire factories shutting in China and the workers being forced to leave the cities and go back to their rural "agricultural" based economies. There is no doubt that China IS a rich country, but most of that money is held by the government or "select" individuals, much of the population (the VAST population) still live a very basic lifestyle.

It's the nature of our "global economy" that if someone sneezes in Orlando or Burbank, someone'll catch a cold in Beijing or Shanghai!!!!

I don't think there'll be many (apart from the ULTRA rich) that won't be affected in some way by the current situation. Those "risk-taking" bankers who led us into this "crisis" have a lot to answer for!!!!!

[shellybelly72]

Thanks for the links