Disney to lay off over 28,000 employees as COVID-19 hits its theme park business

Disney on September 29 announced that it would lay off 28,000 employees in its California-based theme park division in the United States due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19. While speaking to The New York Times (NYT), Chairman of Disney Parks Josh D'Amaro said that this decision seemed the only feasible option. The company informed that the company is going to cut one-fourth of its employees. 

He said, "As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of Covid-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic."

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COVID-19: Disney to cut 28,000 theme park jobs in the US

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In the theme parks of California and Florida, Disney had employed over 110,000 employees before the pandemic. Now, after the newly announced job cuts, the entertainment giant will not have around 82,000 employees. Due to the state's unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen, the layoffs were aggravated in California, D'Amaro said in a statement. The Walt-Disney World in Florida reopened partially in mid-July, but the attendance has been very less due to the concerns COVID-19. According to NYT, Disney will negotiate with the unions which represent the bulk of the affected employees. 

Coronavirus outbreak in the United States

According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States continues to be the worst affected country by the pandemic with 7,406,146 COVID-19 cases and 210,785 deaths. As per the latest updates, 4,648,683 people have successfully recovered from COVID-19. Currently, the total number of active Coronavirus cases in the country are 2,546,678. 

(With inputs from ANI)

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