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FILE – In this Thursday, July 2, 2020, file photo, cars drive under a sign greeting visitors near the entrance to Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. A new television show about the residents and caretakers at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom is being produced by National Geographic and will start streaming in the fall of 2020 on the Disney+. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) – Among the approximately 28,000 Disney employees being laid off are nearly 6,700 non-union workers located in Central Florida.
A notice sent to the state Tuesday is the first indication of the impact that Disney’s layoffs will have on Central Florida.
The biggest chunk of this layoff is almost 6,500 workers based at Disney World, but there are also layoffs at other Disney locations in Central Florida, including at Disney Vacation Club in Celebration, and at Orlando International Airport.
Disney’s notice to the state says the job losses will start Dec. 4.
The company said Tuesday it is planning to lay off 28,000 workers in its theme parks division in California and Florida.
The company has been squeezed by limits on attendance at its parks and other restrictions due to the pandemic.
Officials said Tuesday that two-thirds of the planned layoffs involve part-time workers but they ranged from salaried employees to hourly workers.
Disney’s parks closed last spring as the pandemic started spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks have yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California.
Amy Thomson worked at the Disney reservation call center juggling pandemic-related cancellation calls from guests.
Tuesday afternoon, she was one of tens of thousands that received the email from Disney announcing layoffs in the United States.
“The email essentially says earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, we were forced to close our businesses around the world. Few of us could have imagined how significantly the pandemic would impact us — both at work and in our daily lives,” Thomson said. “It was extremely shocking. I mean, whenever I first got it and I was talking to some of my other fellow cast members, we had tears in our eyes, some of us were crying because I’m like, we’ve just been sitting here for six months just waiting and waiting.”
The Service Trades Council Unions represent 43,000 Cast Members at Walt Disney World, and says they’re disappointed about the layoffs, but that they’re beginning negotiations with the company.
The Actors’ Equity Association which represents actors and stage directors at the parks says they’re also talking with Disney. They add, “In Florida, laid off Disney workers can only receive $275 in unemployment benefits, which is unconscionable. The Senate must help these workers.”
Orlando Representative Val Demings doubled down on the call for a COVID-19 relief bill, noting anyone in her district that needs help can contact her office.
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