Disney Layoffs does this make sense?

www.orlandosentinel.com...

On the day before Thanksgiving, the Walt Disney Co. revealed 4,000 more layoffs are coming in its theme parks division, bringing the total number of announced layoffs to 32,000 across the company.

Disney World is anticipating a busy holiday season, with 77% of park reservations booked for the next quarter. As of Nov. 12, the resort was booked near capacity over the Thanksgiving weekend, Disney executives said.

I've been in corporate long enough to know this is cutting dead wood or too costly employees.
I would bet they are laying off, while also rehiring, probably at a lower pay.

For those talking about the great reset, this is how large companies recycle cheap employees.
The public isn't outraged, because they will blame the pandemic...

The article doesn't specify Orlando, but I read elsewhere they are doing it there and at Universal.

My opinion, for what it's worth, if you want to see what's coming Disney sets the stage. They were the leaders in the big shutdown in Florida for the virus. I'm guessing this will trickle down for layoffs coming throughout Florida and other big corporations.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
www.orlandosentinel.com...

On the day before Thanksgiving, the Walt Disney Co. revealed 4,000 more layoffs are coming in its theme parks division, bringing the total number of announced layoffs to 32,000 across the company.

Disney World is anticipating a busy holiday season, with 77% of park reservations booked for the next quarter. As of Nov. 12, the resort was booked near capacity over the Thanksgiving weekend, Disney executives said.

I've been in corporate long enough to know this is cutting dead wood or too costly employees.
I would bet they are laying off, while also rehiring, probably at a lower pay.

For those talking about the great reset, this is how large companies recycle cheap employees.
The public isn't outraged, because they will blame the pandemic...

The article doesn't specify Orlando, but I read elsewhere they are doing it there and at Universal.

Tokyo Disneyland alone lost $500 million USD this year because of COVID. That's not chump change.

originally posted by: Never Despise
Tokyo Disneyland alone lost $500 million USD this year because of COVID. That's not chump change.

Did they really, and I think 500 million is chump change to Disney

a reply to: JAGStorm

That's part of the problem. Most people who don't see the internals of a company's financials think that, but none of us really know.

It's easy to see big numbers and big apparently wealthy corp and think everything's all good, but without being in their accounting, you don't really know.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Perhaps you are right...the internet tells me they have an estimated net worth of nearly $130 billion. Foolish old me, thinking half a billion matters these days...

a reply to: Never Despise

What all are they into? It's mostly entertainment.

Theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, movies. All of those are taking a sharp hit with everyone, worldwide not being allowed to go places and even if they are, people being too afraid to.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Never Despise

What all are they into? It's mostly entertainment.

Theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, movies. All of those are taking a sharp hit with everyone, worldwide not being allowed to go places and even if they are, people being too afraid to.

True especially for cruise lines, but some of things are probably make more money than ever. Think of all the new Disney streaming subscribers.
Think about all the sales of Disney toys, DVD, and other venues of online entertainment.

As for the parks, they might have lost some money, but it seems, at least by that article all is well.

the resort was booked near capacity over the Thanksgiving weekend, Disney executives said

originally posted by: Never Despise
a reply to: JAGStorm

Perhaps you are right...the internet tells me they have an estimated net worth of nearly $130 billion. Foolish old me, thinking half a billion matters these days...

Silly you to think companies as big as Disney can't make numbers say whatever they want. Also a few months of loss is not even making investors worry.

www.bloomberg.com...

Tokyo Disney Park Investors Shrug at Loss of Only Revenue Stream.....................
If the impact of the coronavirus becomes long-term, say for one or two years, shares might drop but in that case most Japanese companies will be suffering, he says. And even in that scenario, while earnings will be hit Oriental Land will still have its strong management.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah, but I think it's a mistake to think that the streaming fees are going to cover the losses from all those other areas.

Well let's look at another number...cash on hand. The internet tells me Disney has 5.4 billion USD in completely liquid holdings.

Given that number, a half-billion loss from one of its multiple theme parks does seem a bigger blow.

The problem with net worth is a lot of it can't be turned into payroll payouts overnight...so you have to look at the actual cash in the till. if they have to pay many tens of thousands of people at empty parks that are losing hundreds of millions around the world and they have only 5.4 billion this year for all their other expenses on top of that, maybe the layoffs suddenly make more sense.

Well who knows. They also had 11 billion in profits last year, which is quite freaking robust IMHO but the cash on hand figures suggest about half of that is spoken for already in some way.

the Disney Brand will not suffer because of Theme Park lay-offs because of Pandemic scares

Disney entertainment venues will still Thrive quite well

a reply to: JAGStorm

When they shut down they were losing 32 million a day. Several movies have been put on hold for release. Some others like Mulan they released to streaming and it still bombed. Their streaming service is being inflated with many free memberships that have since been canceled. The only show on there that has any acclaim is the Mandalorian.

When you read that their parks are at capacity you probably don't realize that their capacity has been reduced for social distancing and several venues are still shut down.

Their net worth includes the TV stations and all their franchises like Marvel BTW they still have the black widow movie they have not released and from my understanding are paying loans on because they didn't finance it out of pocket. Lucas film, Pixar, they bought Fox affiliates before the shutdown. Disney has a lot more than that. Speaking of Lucas Film do any of you think it could even be sold for what they paid now? Half the fandom has walked away.

Actually here is a video from some people that have been following the layoffs and moves Disney has been making for over a year.



Some of Disney acquisitions.
ABC
ESPN (80% stake)
Touchstone Pictures
Marvel
Lucasfilm
A&E (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation)
The History Channel (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation)
Lifetime (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation)
Pixar
Hollywood Records
Vice Media (10% stake)
Core Publishing

As of Nov. 12, the resort was booked near capacity over the Thanksgiving weekend, Disney executives said.

So that makes sense - you can have thousands of people together at an amusement park but a lone person paddle boarding off the coast of California gets chased down by police on boat, handcuffed and taken into custody for not wearing a mask.

a reply to: Grimpachi

Disney cannot sink regardless of what happens because they are one of those 'establishment' companies.

Disneyland in California is still shut down and has been since March. How much in losses do you suppose that equals? California is headed back into lockdown so no end in sight for Disney there...

a reply to: JAGStorm

there are an awful lot of things we would need to know, before we could even formulate an opinion of if these layoffs make sense.

first off attendance numbers are not everything. i worked at a theme park years ago. the money people pay to get in is not even where they make their money.it's like just spit in a bucket of money revenue wise. they make their real money off of selling food, merchandise, as well as games. now Disney doesn't have games, so that might be why they charge so much to get in. and just how much are their reduced crowds eating and spending on merchandise with the fear of the pandemic? and every bit counts. and the bean counters have everything worked out as to how much each piece brings in. it's so tightly estimated that at the park i worked at if a game wasn't producing x amount per person, they started going after people for theft.

so they are at "capacity", but what is that capacity compared to normal? since of course that capacity is restricted because of the rules limiting it at a much lower number. trust me it is scary how many people such places normally hold, where i worked, if there were 20,000 people in the park, it was like a ghost town where you would go minutes without seeing anyone, and ride lineups were nonexistent. and guess what when numbers were that small,workers were sent home, reducing it to pretty much a skeleton crew. which is what it would appear Disney is doing with these layoffs. bringing crew levels down to the bare minimum.

how much food are people eating compared to normal? if i remember right they had to restrict eating to only being allowed to be done at the restaurants. no more wandering around eating because morons were using it as an excuse not to properly wear their masks. so i have to think that food sales per person are way down, and that is on top of the already reduced crowds not eating as much. it's unbelievable just how much money is made by things like ice cream, pop, and things like simple walking around food normally brings in. especially when there are long lines and so people constantly buy such things to consume while in line. and with Disney while waiting for and watching parades, which i understand have been canceled. so that money making aspect will have been hit hard.

how are shop sales? again i suspect their sales are way down. again not just to the reduced number of people in the park to buy stuff. but people normally head into stores to take a break from the crowds and heat of waiting in massive lines, which due to decreased capacity will not bring people in. so there go all the impulse buys from that. and without parades, there is no reason for kids to get those expensive costumes like princess dresses, or the makeovers from hair and makeup artists (is that even allowed right now?), so that is more surplus staff that are not needed. and again without things like parades, there go the sales of all those glow in the dark stuff people buy for their kids. added to that without long lines due to the capped capacity, i bet people are going home earlier after being able to ride more rides than normal. and it's unbelievable how much profit is made from that junk.

and speaking of the parades being canceled there is another few hundred people not needed. it is unfortunate but with the reduced crowds and reduced buying, that leaves a lot of unneeded people to work. and since it's a long term situation, that means layoffs in any business. and just add to all that at the same time they have some parks completely closed which means those that are open, at reduced capacity, and reduced sales, also have to pay for those parks that are closed and not making any money. because even closed they have people who need to be paid and all the other costs.

so chances are these layoffs are unfortunately needed. i shudder to think what is happening to all the other businesses that cater to the people who go to the Disney parks. hotels, restaurants, car rentals, shops, ect. everything that relies on people coming in to go to the Disney parks are likely in far worse shape with the reduced crowds.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
www.orlandosentinel.com...

On the day before Thanksgiving, the Walt Disney Co. revealed 4,000 more layoffs are coming in its theme parks division, bringing the total number of announced layoffs to 32,000 across the company.

Disney World is anticipating a busy holiday season, with 77% of park reservations booked for the next quarter. As of Nov. 12, the resort was booked near capacity over the Thanksgiving weekend, Disney executives said.

I've been in corporate long enough to know this is cutting dead wood or too costly employees.
I would bet they are laying off, while also rehiring, probably at a lower pay.

For those talking about the great reset, this is how large companies recycle cheap employees.
The public isn't outraged, because they will blame the pandemic...

The article doesn't specify Orlando, but I read elsewhere they are doing it there and at Universal.

Living in Orlando area, I can attest to this. My daughter has an exceptionally long "holiday" break from college due to coronavirus. Won't be resuming classes until January. So she was just looking to see if she could have any luck finding a seasonal job somewhere. My son also works for Disney part-time and told her to check listings as he knew there were some openings. So she managed to spot more than a few job openings at Disney. Granted, they're not seasonal positions but there's definitely opportunities.

4,000 People at a corporation of that size is pretty small. Kitchen help