Disney layoffs: 6,700 non-union employees are losing their jobs

[Disney4me]

About 6,700 Walt Disney World non-union employees are losing their jobs in December, Disney alerted the state late Tuesday.

The notice to the state is the first indicator of how many Orlando employees are affected as part of the massive layoffs the company announced Tuesday when the market closed. The layoffs begin Dec. 4.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products plans to lay off a total of 28,000 U.S. employees in a business division that covers the theme parks, Imagineering and Disney Cruise Line.

Several of the unions who represent Disney World employees said Tuesday they were in discussions with the company to determine details of the layoffs.

“Due to the continuing business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce,” wrote Jim Bowden, Disney Vice President of Employee Relations, in a letter to the state that did not break down which positions would be affected.

On Tuesday, Josh D’Amaro, the chief of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, disclosed that about 67% of the 28,000 positions are part-time employees, although the cuts were widespread to include salaried and executive level employees as well beyond workers paid by the hour.

“It will take time for all of us to process this information and its impact. We will be scheduling appointments with our affected salaried and non-union hourly employees over the next few days. Additionally, today we will begin the process of discussing next steps with unions,” D’Amaro wrote in a letter to employees released Tuesday.

The cuts come as Disneyland remains closed and attendance is lower at the Walt Disney World parks, which reopened in mid-July during the pandemic.

grusson@orlandosentinel.com