Disney plans to lay off about 32,000 employees in the first half of next year, primarily in theme parks, the company announced in a 10K announcement. The company says it is implementing these layoffs because of “the effects of the current climate, including COVID-19”. This is an increase of 4,000 people compared to the 28,000 redundancies originally announced in September. The new data includes previously announced redundancies, Species reports.
Along with the layoffs, Disney said it is considering additional measures, such as reducing investment in movie and TV content, stopping capital spending, and rethinking additional employees. As early as October 3, it had 37,000 employees in furlough, Species notes.
The announcement comes after a difficult year for the Disney business. His amusement parks were particularly hard hit by the coronavirus epidemic. Although Disney World in Florida may have reopened restrictions earlier this year, such as wearing face masks when not eating, Disneyland has been closed since March. The WSJ notes that it is still unclear when California Park will reopen.
The theme park’s problems, along with forced delays or a changed plan to release several tent-column movies, are leading Disney to post a rare few quarterly losses this year. In August, the company reported a loss of $ 4.72 billion for the quarter, which was reported by WSJ reports were first quarter losses since 2001. An additional $ 710 million loss ensued in the next quarter.
Despite personal business challenges, the company’s results were aided by the launch of the Disney Plus streaming service, which had 73.7 million subscribers in early October. The company plans to launch another streaming service outside the United States next year under the Star brand, WSJ notes.
