Although many Disney theme parks and resorts around the world have reopened, other aspects of the Walt Disney Company are not back up and running yet.
Cinderella Castle
With Disneyland Resort still closed, reduced capacity at Disney’s theme parks, and the suspension of all Disney cruise departures until mid-December, Disney has announced that it will be laying off 28,000 employees.
So far, we’ve seen some updates and initial details about how many Cast Members will be laid off in California and in Florida. The situation, however, is still very much developing.
Magic Kingdom Cast Members in Costume
We’ve seen various statements issued by unions who represent Disney employees in response to the layoffs. We’ve also seen many groups, often organized by Cast Members, doing what they can to support those affected. All of this got us wondering, how exactly are Disney executives handling this situation? Toward the beginning of the pandemic, various Disney executives took some significant pay cuts. In mid-August, however, those temporary pay cuts were lifted.
©The Walt Disney Company
While the current layoffs are set to affect “executive, salaried, and hourly roles,” many of the Disney executives, particularly those whose full salaries have been restored and who are not being laid off, are experiencing a very different situation than those who have recently received word that their time at Disney has come to an abrupt end. Here’s what some Disney executives have had to say about the whole situation:
Josh D’Amaro
Josh D’Amaro, the current Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, was tasked with issuing the initial statements regarding the layoffs, which is appropriate since the layoffs are set to affect the workforce within the Parks, Experiences and Products division of the Disney Company.
©Disney Parks News via Twitter
In the statement posted to Twitter, D’Amaro notes that due to “the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on [Disney’s] 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 — [Disney] has made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing [their] workforce at [their] Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels.”
©Disney
In a letter sent to employees, D’Amaro states that he believes “the heart and soul of [Disney’s] business is and always will be people.” He says that they initially hoped the pandemic would be short-lived and that things would return to normal quickly, but that has not been the case, and, as a result, they are now forced to reduce the size of their team “across executive, salaried, and hourly roles.” In his letter, D’Amaro says Disney “worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company…cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed [] cast members while still paying benefits, and modified [their] operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, [they] simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.” D’Amaro notes that the layoffs are “the only feasible option [they] have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on [Disney’s] business.”
@joshdamaro on Instagram
D’Amaro also thanked Cast Members for their “dedication, patience and understanding” and for all that they have done for the company. According to one post on Twitter, D’Amaro was reportedly seen walking around the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort in the days following the announcement, speaking with and reportedly apologizing to Cast Members directly about the layoffs.
Josh D’Amaro was in DTD all day apologizing to cast members, letting us vent, cry, and whatnot. He probably would let us punch him if we wanted. A lot execs would stay home, but I have to credit Josh for facing the music. The guy looked absolutely defeated.
— Nate Pester (@powerfuldog) October 1, 2020
This week, D’Amaro has been touring Disney World to speak with Cast Members directly.
Josh D’Amaro in EPCOT October 6th
D’ Amaro has been the executive we’ve seen and heard from the most on this issue — from the layoff message itself to being seen directly in the parks interacting with the fallout.
Bob Iger
Bob Iger, the current Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors, has not yet made any direct comment about the layoffs. Despite being fairly active on his Twitter account, Iger has not posted anything since before the layoffs were announced.
Bob Iger
Iger did, however, make a powerful statement about the developing situation in California surrounding theme park reopening guidelines when he quit California Governor Gavin Newsom’s economic recovery task force. Iger’s departure was announced the same day that Disneyland and other California theme parks asked the state to not finalize theme park reopening guidelines without their input.
Disneyland Gate
In March of this year, Iger agreed to forgo his entire base salary. It is unclear if, when the temporary pay cuts were lifted, Iger’s salary was restored as well or otherwise affected. In an article concerning the current layoffs, The Orlando Sentinel reports that “Disney did not respond immediately to an Orlando Sentinel request on the status of [Bob Iger or Bob Chapek’s] pay.”
Bob Chapek
Bob Chapek is the current Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Chapek is known for being very fiscally-focused. The Wall Street Journal calls Chapek a “number crunching tactician.” Chapek’s tactics of raising ticket prices and reorganizing operations at the parks to save or make a few dollars have been heavily criticized.
Bob Chapek in Galaxy’s Edge ©Laughing Place
On the issue of the recent layoffs, Chapek has been noticeably quiet. We were unable to find any kind of official statement from Chapek regarding the situation. In March of this year, Chapek agreed to forgo 50% of his salary. It is unclear if, when the temporary pay cuts were lifted, Chapek’s salary was restored as well or otherwise affected.
Jim Bowden
Recently, Disney has made various WARN Act filings with the State of Florida regarding the number of employees that are set to be laid off in the state. These notices have been issued by Jim Bowden, the current Vice President of Employee Relations for the Disney Company. In the notices, Bowden notes that “[d]ue to the continuing business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, [Disney has] made the very difficult decision to reduce [their] workforce.”
Magic Kingdom
Jeff Vahle
Jeff Vahle is the current president of Walt Disney World Resort. Although Vahle is fairly active on his Instagram, his last post was from two weeks ago, prior to the layoff announcement. We have not yet seen any official statements from Vahle on the current situation.
Ken Potrock
The current president of Disneyland Resort is Ken Potrock. A few weeks ago, Potrock expressed his displeasure with the lack of guidance from California regarding theme park reopenings, and noted that the lack of guidelines has put Disneyland “in limbo” with the California government.
Disney California Adventure
According to The Press-Enterprise, in a letter sent by Potrock to employees, Potrock noted, “The fact that our parks and hotels remain closed — at a time when almost every other industry has reopened — only compounds the situation at the Disneyland resort… . But the reality is that once we finally do reopen, given the limited guest capacity in our parks and changes to our offerings, our workforce will likely need to look different.” Although Potrock does also appear to be fairly active on Instagram, we’ve yet to see any other statement or post from him regarding the layoffs.
Abigail Disney
Although she has no position at the Disney Company, Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney’s brother, has made various statements about the layoffs via her Twitter. She has been quite vocal in past years concerning her distaste for how her family’s company is being run. In a fairly lengthy thread, Abigail Disney heavily criticized Disney for the layoffs and noted that she was incredibly sad to hear about them. She also warned that the layoffs will have “serious consequences.”
Melissa Valiquette
Finally, most of the Vice Presidents of each domestic Disney Theme Park have remained largely quiet concerning the layoffs. One exception being EPCOT’s VP, Melissa Valiquette. She took to her LinkedIn to leave encouraging words for a number of individual Cast Members that shared they were affected by the layoffs. She offered words of hope stating, “Our Cast will make a difference in this world, even if it’s outside of Disney!”
It certainly is interesting to see how quiet several Disney executives have been about the situation as a whole. It appears they may simply be allowing Josh D’Amaro to serve as the face of this issue since it is his division that is being affected. We’ll keep checking for more statements and actions from these Disney executives in response to the layoff announcement, and continue to update this post as we hear more from them.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Oh, just what you should do Disney…raise the price of tickets when people are having a hard enough time just trying to come for a WDW vacation. Chapeks needs to live in the real world…. If he can show a profit by raising ticket prices then at the end of the year he’ll get a big fat bonus
To heck with all the families that have to tell their kids they can’t t go to Disney World because we can’t buy tickets do to a price increase 😠😥. And, when this Covid virus is over will he lower the price of the tickets???? That would never happen🤨
The pain is self inflicted for a large part, at least in Florida. We were just there and so much is still closed in the parks. Very little eating options, no shows, stores closed. Meanwhile at Universal pretty much everything is operating and my family and I actually felt safer there, we physically saw people from Universal cleaning in the ride queues.
During challenging times a real leader is boots on the ground and they don’t hide from the most difficult and unfortunate circumstances. Josh D’Amaro is the one that others can learn from. I had the pleasure of bumping into him and talking for a few minutes at the Grand Floridian on the morning that Rise of the Resistance opened. I was completely impressed with how engaged he was in his conversation with me. It was great news to see him quickly rise to be over all Disney Parks. The pandemic hit and he immediately was faced with tough circumstances that nobody who has held the position has ever faced.
Charlotte’s comment was right on!
I believe our country understands the risks involved and the steps to take to stay healthy. Orlando theme parks seems to be faring well with the safety precautions they have installed. Judging by how I have witnessed people behaving and the changes to accommodate risk mitigation in the parks, it appears obvious that opening more of the stores and restaurants and allowing entertainment back in for those who are not high risk and without symptoms would not be deemed a negligent thing to do. It seems to be working.
If they would allow Florida residents to get new passes, they wouldn’t have to lay off as many cast members, yet would still keep it local.
We Just got back from WDW too. We went last week. What Steve said about eating options is true. We had a heck of a time finding food that we like to eat. And food at all in general. Although we had a very good time, despite the masks and the lower crowds, we missed shopping since most of the shops were closed. We did have a problem with paying nearly full prices for everything when there was very little house keeping offered.
I did like the Purell stations at the exits to the rides, and truly hope they keep that up even when this is over
Disney hasn’t raised ticket prices for 2020, ai doubt they will this year at all
Give the company back to Abigail Disney and let her run it it needs to go back to the family she’s a Disney it’s in her blood And dna . Aj & sarah Still got this letter plans are to send it to Disney. Services@Disney World.com it’s almost a novel lol I’m letting a pro proof it punctuation as u say moderate reach out if u want I hope u see it when completed hard copies are going to some cast members we know personally if still employed good job ceo s for destroying in months what took 9 decades for Walt and company to build ps Eisner would do in a pinch
I feel so sorry for cast members, the ones on the floor, doing the work, making the guests experience amazing. I applaud Josh D’Maro for facing the staff. The executive team should all still be on pay cuts until the parks are back to normal,while layed off staff need food banks.
Florida was given the go by our governor to increase capacity in the parks but Disney decided not to. If we are wearing masks and social distancing then they can open more areas and increase capacity to keep some of these people working. Put yourself in these poor peoples place and try to imagine how they are being affected! Most of these executives have no idea what it’s like. I’m all for capitalism but Chapek has to go and so does full pay for all the executives, including bonus, until things are back to normal.
I can not fully comprehend how the parks will operate without these dedicated , devoted and trained employees, once it opens to full capacity. Can you not tell the employees that your jobs will be there, if you haven’t moved on, when you reopen? Why hire people that you will have to train and put them out there in place of the ones that have given their heart and souls since they were CP’s! College educated employees who were also taking college classes to further their careers with the company and now they can’t afford to take! I can’t imagine walking into the parks without seeing a Photopass photographer. They truly made the memories that automated boxes can not replace. Those special pictures are on our walls, our Christmas Cards and Scrapbooks that will last lifetime. It is so important to talk with the Cast members, which makes each experience special and unique. All of the Cast Members that made our trips “Magic” and worth every penny. These employees are now told to find other work. But, as we all know, Disney will be back. Why cast these employees to the side. They want to work for this amazing company that they have worked so hard to make that dream of a job come true! They can’t be replaced and should not be. Just like you can’t call “plastic” cheese real Wisconsin Cheddar!