Originally Posted By fkurucz <<The reason that the number is around 450 is because if they lay off more than 500, they have to notify the state, and give 60 days notice. So they are coming just shy of the 500 so they can do it immediately.>> My employer does these "mini" layoffs for the same reason. It also keeps the firm out of the headlines, creating a false illusion that we are not being affected by the crisis.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Cast Members that have been laid off this week were offered one weeks pay for every year of service. I was at one of the parks today and ran into a friend who still works there. He said it was a terrible week. One of the ways they are cutting back is combining areas. So Future World West Attractions and FW East Attractions is now Future World attractions with one top manager and the two areas Guest Service Managers combined into one business unit minus a couple of people for instance. My friend said it was happening across property and they were told on Friday that the lay offs were done. Some whole divisions are gone and other gobbled up by another area. The person had no news on the Phil Holmes rumor. What was sad was many mutual friends were let go including several managers in the parks with 15 to 30+ years of service. One manager had opened the MK. Many of them were great managers who understood the Disney legacy. Though one of the people we knew who was laid off this week probably had overstayed their time at WDW by several years.
Originally Posted By -em Today I heard that the husbands of two of the CMs that were fired in December when we lost the business centers were let go... Crazy!
Originally Posted By Mickeyfan1 It's pretty bad out here on the West coast at Disneyland. Several friends I use to work with with 20 and 30 plus years are now gone, and many more to come from what I have heard. The Happiest Place on Earth is pretty shaken up right now. Let's keep our friends and others in our thoughts and prayers duing these difficult economic times.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Realize that this is ALL being done in expectation of very bad quarter two numbers. This way when they come out Iger and Rasulo can spin this as something they have done to improve the bottom line during the tough days of this economic downturn (DEPRESSION!!!!!!) ... I was shocked, but the O-Sentinel (which has been little more than PR for Disney since running the This Old Park story five years ago) reporter actually casually suggested as much in his story yesterday. The sickening thing is this won't prop the stock up ... and Disney could have simply cut every exec in Burbank, Anaheim, Glendale and Orlando by 10% and easily make up for the massive bloodletting in O-Town. Ridiculous and not needed. ~What Will YOU Celebrate? Bread lines!~
Originally Posted By dshyates "Was that Teamsters local 385 Dave?" Yes. Here is the same info from the Sentinel. <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/business/orl-bizdizlayoffs27032709mar27,0,4170784.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...84.story</a>
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Unfortunately, this is not an unsual occurance at Disney. There have been severel times since I arrived at Disney (I left there several years ago) when Disney comes thru and does a major housecleaning. One of Disney's weeknesses is that it has grown so big that they find it hard to keep their mgmt ranks from bloating. In the 80's I worked for a dept that had one area manager and five asst managers. There was no secretary for the area and one payroll clerk who we shared with another area. Before that layoffs that area had been split into two areas, each with an area manager and each with 5 asst managers. Each had a support (read secretary) person. A couple of the clerical responsabilities that an asst mgmt did have been moved to depts created to do that work. So the scheduling manager in my area did schedules for the 300 plus people in our area. Today some guy accross property gets info from the asst manager assigned to schedules and does the scheduling. When a new hire came into our area it was the scheduling managers job to arrange for a trainer, schedule, materials, etc. Today that happens in an office accross the park. Like many companies today, Disney has departments that I dont understand. In my last job I would meet people who had a relationship to our dept but had never even heard of. Many of the things I did years ago have been handed to other people/depts that I barely see or see. Getting things fixes sometimes would be maddening. We used to know who it was that was responsable for fixing this particular item but today a work order goes thru several hands before a decision is made on how to proceed. In the past when things were going to be painted we always knew in advance and usually we knew who the painter was. Today you could come in and see whole areas of sidewalks in your area roped off. It is terrible that people are being laid off. And I cant figure out(from the people I know who were let go) what the criteria was for who was let go. How does a company justify letting go someone with 33 years experience in park operations who is still a great manager? Money? Imagine after 33 years being escorted to your office while you clean out your personal items then walked to your car and escorted off property. A friend told me that someone they knew was called in from vacation to be let go. I spoke to a manager the other day who was happy to have a job but very upset that they were being moved to 3rd shift custodial. They told me they were glad to be working but it was going to hell on his family. On another note. I was at EPCOT yesteday for the Flower festival. The park was busy, people were eating and drinking everywhere we went and we saw lots of shopping bags. Our friends, who only go to Disney every couple of years, were surprised by the crowds. They said...we thought Disney would be dead from everything we have been reading in the paper.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> The sickening thing is this won't prop the stock up ... and Disney could have simply cut every exec in Burbank, Anaheim, Glendale and Orlando by 10% and easily make up for the massive bloodletting in O-Town. Ridiculous and not needed. << I wish people new how magical Disney was being right now.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Today I heard that the husbands of two of the CMs that were fired in December when we lost the business centers were let go... Crazy! << There's two families that have been totally devastated by Pixie Dust. It would seem the Mouse is an even bigger cold hearted SOB than I imagined.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> "Was that Teamsters local 385 Dave?" Yes. Here is the same info from the Sentinel. <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com...84.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...84.story</a> << Thanks Dave. I can't understand why the Teamsters haven't organized all the hourly CM's. I would imagine Florida is a right to work state, but those non-union CM's are losing money every hour. I have a feeling the Teamsters, and Mouse may have a little Sweet-Heart deal going on. I could be wrong though.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<There's two families that have been totally devastated by Pixie Dust. It would seem the Mouse is an even bigger cold hearted SOB than I imagined.>> What scares me the most is that most Joe 6 packs accept this social darwinism as necessary.
Originally Posted By dshyates "I can't understand why the Teamsters haven't organized all the hourly CM's." A huge number are part time or seasonal.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> A huge number are part time or seasonal. << Teamsters will try to organize kids at a lemonade stand if it fits their agenda.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 The problem is that Florida is a right to work state and union membership in the parks is a rather low percentage compared to the number of Cast Members. It is one of the reasons that the union usually caves during negotiations. While the union negotiates everyones contract I bet that less then 50% of CM's are union members. Also, the union has a bad rep at least in the attractions areas. Several years ago the union accepted a substandard contract because Disney was claiming that profits were down and that they were trying to keep everyone employed. One month later the company made record profits and Eisner got a HUGE bonus. Many CM's felt the union sold them out.
Originally Posted By danyoung I just can't believe the people who are so quick to jump on the BIG BAD DISNEY bandwagon. It's tough times, folks. Entire businesses are folding. More people are out of work across the country than just about ever. Why would the parks be immune? Every person who loses a job can tell a sob story, and it hurts to hear it. But none of us knows the first thing about the condition of the company or how the decisions are being made. I still think there are a lot of fat cats in the corporate structure that could stand a bit of income trimming. But out of 60,000 jobs in Florida, 450 jobs cut isn't large enough for all of us to rant against the mighty corporation. - I ain't no Pollyanna! -
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<I just can't believe the people who are so quick to jump on the BIG BAD DISNEY bandwagon. It's tough times, folks.>> Funny how its never tough for those at the top. For them, its always huge salaries and even bigger bonuses. IMO execs should not receive bonuses if they are laying people off. And its one thing to let people go to keep the business afloat, and quite another to do so to keep profits huge. And like I have said before, this isn't just Disney, this is how Corporate America works. Once upon a time Corporate America was the Holy Grail for job seekers, offering the best pay and benefits. Today it means the opposite, plus the constant threat off layoffs, even during good times. It has gotten to the point where professions that used to be considered modest (cops, firefighters and nurses) now routinely earn better paychecks and benefits than cubicle dwellers. Am I angry? You bet I am! Had I known that this was coming 20+ years ago I might have given the time of day to the on campus recruiters for Federal jobs. Heck, I bet I would have made a fine FBI or CIA agent. Oh well, too late now.
Originally Posted By danyoung ^^ I completely agree. I guess the point I was trying to make is that Disney is no different in its actions these days than any other large corporation trying to keep profits up. And as a business goal, keeping profits up isn't really all that bad. The average stockholder doesn't understand things like magic and pixie dust - they just want to see numbers going up. Sad, but true.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom danyoung I think that the people posting on this thread are questioning Disney's motives for various valid reasons. As I have said before, I'm not convinced that Iger and his "peeps" ( Its Easter time after all folk ) are concerned with the longevity of the Disney Company. Iger et all did receive substancial bonuses this year, meanwhile layoff cast members at WDW. As I have said, I think Walt Disney himself would have gone without to make sure that his employees, parks and legacy would endure. Its blantantly obvious that not where Iger and his peeps are coming from. Employees, including Upper Management at many other companys both private and public are not taking pay raises this year so that they will not have to sustain any layoffs. I was talking with a friend last night who works for NYU where employees took a pay cut to prevent layoffs. Unfortunately that apparently was not an option with the Disney Company. Apparently, Iger decided these employees were going and that was it. I as frequent visitor to WDW question the impact that we as quest will experience while visiting WDW. The cast members have already taken many hits, drastic work hour reduction, etc. Layoffs is not good news. I think its valid for us as guests to question Iger and his peeps motices here. To many it doesn't make logical sense or good business sense. Bad Show
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Also, the union has a bad rep at least in the attractions areas. Several years ago the union accepted a substandard contract because Disney was claiming that profits were down and that they were trying to keep everyone employed. One month later the company made record profits and Eisner got a HUGE bonus. Many CM's felt the union sold them out. << Definitely has the ring of a sweetheart deal to it. It's either that or total incompetence.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Funny how its never tough for those at the top. For them, its always huge salaries and even bigger bonuses. IMO execs should not receive bonuses if they are laying people off. << Even when they perform poorly, and are forced out, their get-away package is usually 10 times what your average worker makes in a lifetime.
