This is not the sort of news we look forward to bringing you. The lives of thousands of Disneyland and Anaheim area workers hangs in the balance as the theme parks, and many of the businesses who rely on them, remain closed.  Today we learn of ANOTHER round of furloughs for the Disneyland Resort. Unlike the previous rounds of layoffs, this means that affected employees are able to retain their benefits.

The first round, announced at the end of September, impacted mostly hourly workers, with thousands of additional union workers terminated in a 2nd round at the end of October. Today we hear that even more workers across the spectrum will be notified of their furlough from the jobs they love at the Disneyland Resort. 

The reasoning for the cuts are, as you might suspect, because Disneyland had hoped to be able to reopen in limited capacity during the holiday season. However, recent guidance from the state that Disneyland may not reopen until the Yellow Tier (least restrictive tier in the state’s blueprint for reopening) means at least a June, July, or later return for the park.  And that led to Disney realizing they had thousands more workers who would not be needed for half a year or longer. 

Disneyland Resort President, Ken Potrock, just sent the following letter to the cast and crew of the resort: 

Dear Team,

Since Disneyland Resort closed its gates in March, nothing has been more important than fully reopening and getting our Cast Members back to work. That’s why it is with heavy hearts we find ourselves in the untenable situation of having to institute additional furloughs for our executive, salaried and hourly Cast.

After nearly eight months our parks and hotels remain closed, and while we have had some successes — like the opening of the Downtown Disney District in July, shopping and dining coming soon to Buena Vista Street and today’s announcement that we will reopen Disney Vacation Club units — the recently released state guidelines put us in limbo regarding a reopening timeline in the foreseeable future. 

As you know, we’ve already taken the heart-wrenching action of laying off thousands of our Cast on both coasts. We expected to be able to open our parks in Anaheim, given our proven ability to operate with responsible health and safety protocols as we have in all of our other theme parks around the world, but unfortunately this has not case been the case.

We will begin communication today with affected Cast. Consistent with what was put in place in April, furloughed Cast will be able to:

·        maintain health and insurance benefits coverage, with the company paying both the employer and employee weekly benefit contributions;

·        elect to use some or all of their available paid-time off hours (vacation and floating holidays) if eligible;

·        access state unemployment insurance benefits; and

·        continue progress toward their education goals with the Disney Aspire education program if already enrolled.

These decisions and actions are difficult – and we are committed to helping our teams through this and, most importantly, getting people back to work where we can.

I urge Cast Members who need support to utilize the Furlough Resource Center, along with additional company-provided resources including LifeCare and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). You can also call Global Human Resources Operations.

While the near term will be challenging as we continue to navigate in these turbulent times, I promise you that we will continue to work tirelessly to reopen the Resort and get our Cast Members back to work, and that my optimism for our bright future continues to be strong.

I want to thank each and every one of you for your resiliency and resolve during these challenging and unpredictable times. I am continually in awe of our amazing Cast and look forward to the day when we can celebrate the reopening of Disneyland Resort.

With gratitude,

Ken

Our hearts break for all whose lives have been upended. There is surely a middle ground between the state’s position and Disney which would allow enough guests to visit safely that many jobs can be restored. We hope that Disney will continue to work with the state to achieve a compromise, and we are confident that will eventually happen. 


ORIGINAL DISNEYLAND LAYOFF COVERAGE

(Our coverage of the first round of layoffs is posted below from September 29th, 2020)

Massive layoffs have begun for Disney Parks and Resorts cast members and Imagineers. 28,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs, 70% of them likely to be part-time and hourly workers who remain on furlough.

Chairman of Disney Parks and Resort Josh D’Amaro outlined the bloodletting in an email that was sent out to all Parks and Resorts employees on September 29th. Here’s the message sent to employees: 

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed , MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed , MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed , MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed

And here’s Disney’s spin on the terminations. Basically placing the blame on COVID-19 and the state’s slow response in reopening the parks: 

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed

UPDATES: We now have an email sent to cast from Disneyland President Ken Potrock:

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed


Additional Disney Layoff Information

After Disney’s general announcements, various unions began to receive specific information regarding how many positions would be cut in each job category. We will continue to update this section with new information as it becomes available. 

Food Service

A message from the Local 50 Union (which handles food service in the parks) shares what they do and don’t know yet about the pending layoff of nearly 2500 of their members: 

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed

 

Disneyland Security

The folks who keep you safe in the parks are expecting to lose 478 employees: 

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed

Attractions

The folks who run Disneyland attractions, as well as characters, bus drivers, ranch hands, laundry workers, parking attendants, animal handlers, truck drivers, warehouse workers and other classifications, have been told that approximately 1400 of their members will be let go. 

, MORE Disneyland Furloughs JUST Confirmed

Housekeeping

Local 11, which represents Disney hotels housekeeping, is preparing for 950 jobs to be eliminated. 

There are many other groups of cast members, including non-union management and hourly workers who will also be hit hard. Whereas most union job losses will be mostly based upon seniority, the same is not necessarily true of non-union roles.  


Quick Facts: What We Know So Far 

  • These layoffs impact Disney employees across the country. 
  • 28,000 cast members are expected to lose their jobs.
  • Some workers have already been contacted by HR and let go.
  • Most union positions will not be cut until approximately November 1st. Non-union workers are already being contacted and terminated. 
  • Union layoffs will mostly be handled by seniority.
  • 2,765 non-union positions in California are expected to be cut. 2,050 are from Parks and  Resorts. 129 from Disney Entertainment Productions. 95 from Disney Destinations. 74 from Disney Travel Company. And 411 Imagineers will lose their jobs. 
    • Club 33 will lose 43 cast members in various roles. 
    • 327 Outdoor Vending positions have been cut. 
    • As a result of mobile order, 595 foodservice cashiers will be let go across the resort. 
  • 6,700 non-union positions will be cut in Florida. 
  • Layoff notification calls are scheduled to be completed by 10/9 for hourly non-union, salaried, and executive positions. Union calls will come later.  
  • Cast members enrolled in Disney Aspire (College tuition payment program) may be allowed to complete their program, depending on the program they are in. Cast are advised to contact their Education Coach if they have concerns. 

*Please note that union information, in particular, may still be fluid due to negotiations between the unions and Disney.  

If you have updates or additional information, please contact [email protected]


Our thoughts are with all of you who have lost your jobs. We hope your Disney journey can resume again one day soon. 

Thank you for the magic and the countless dreams you made come true! 

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Dusty Sage
Dusty is the founder and CEO of MiceChat.com. When he's not visiting theme parks and writing, editing or speaking about Disney and theme parks worldwide, Dusty is involved in multiple Disney related projects and charities. He helped save and restore the charming Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago, launched the Dick Van Dyke Foundation, and is the curator of Walt Disney's historic 1930's estate in Hollywood. If you've got news or photos to share with the MiceChat community, or would like to book Dusty for an upcoming event, please contact [email protected]