Sadly, the layoffs that have affected Disney Parks, Resorts and Products are also coming to Walt Disney Imagineering.
According to The Orange County Register‘s Brady MacDonald, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act revealed that 411 Imagineers are expected to be laid off from their campus in Glendale, California.
Earlier today, it was discovered that nearly 2,700 non-union Cast Members from the Disneyland Resort will be laid off beginning December 4th along with 6,700 from Walt Disney World, while 2,500 union food service Cast Members and 950 members of UNITE HERE Local 11 will be let go as of November 1st.
Disney has struggled to recover from the economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure closed with the rest of the Disneyland Resort back in March, and have yet to reopen. Yesterday, Disney Parks announced the layoff of 28,000 Cast Members. In a memo, Disney Parks, Resorts and Products President Josh D’Amaro said: “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. We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case.”
Keep reading WDWNT for continuing updates on this ongoing story.
Omg
Governor Newsom in California has destroyed the economy. Government employees are collecting 100% of salary and benefits, while private sector jobs are permanently closed. Vote to recall Newsom.
Not much Newsom can do when people refuse to wear masks and cross-border transmissions continue to pick up. China locked down Hubei province. US needed to lock down CA and NY. Now its too late! State governments will declare bankruptcies and start laying off workers soon enough to spread the pain
Just my opinion, but after all of the people that have already paid to go (yearly passes and scheduled res) its going to be even worse for Disney. Id like to say no one (I know we wont renew for the 1st time in almost 10years) will uy passes or even tickets. Not enough people anyway. No one in their right mind will pay full price to visit half the experience. And I hate that. Drop the mask, make it Vol, keep the distancing if need be, open park back up, fireworks parades etc., and peoplw will come in groves. The people saying they wont go, wont make that much of a difference vs those that will come. Otherwise Disney filea Bankruptcy and starts closing parks forever. Now that would be horrible in my book. We live out of state, Louisiana, and go 2 or 3 times a year with yearly passes. We are DVC members, we are ready for normal, we went just last month, was cowded with no fass passes or park hoppers it just was not the same, just another six flags style parks mostly, rides and little entertainment. Bring back the magic, the people are ready and need it.
Talk about an absurdly foolish move. Gutting your development and creative staff is just dumb. Looks as if Disney is giving up on their own future.
Does Disney even use Imagineers anyway? There’s no actual imagination going into their attractions anymore, it’s all fluff and literal screens and mirrors. And their newest ride at the American parks had horrible animatronics with creepy CGI faces.