Disney lays off 32,000 workers as coronavirus hits theme parks

Disney plans to lay off 32,000 employees as the coronavirus continues to hamper its theme parks.

In a SEC filing on Wednesday, the company said the majority of the layoffs would come from its Parks, Experiences and Products division. A Disney spokesperson said Variety that the number includes layoffs in parks first announced in September.

“Due to the current climate, including the impacts of COVID-19 and the changing environment in which we operate, the company has generated efficiencies in its staffing, including limiting hiring to roles critical sales, time off and downsizing, ”the company wrote. “As part of these actions, the employment of approximately 32,000 employees, primarily at Parks, Experiences and Products, will end in the first half of fiscal 2021.”

37,000 separate Disney employees who weren’t about to be laid off were on leave on October 3, Variety notes.

Disney parks in North America, Asia and Europe were closed between March and May, CNN Notes. The company has since reopened theme parks in Shanghai and Florida, but Disneyland in California will remain closed until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Disneyland Paris closed again at the end of last month when France imposed its second coronavirus lockdown.

Earlier this month, Disney grossed millions of dollars in fourth-quarter losses, although the company has consistently exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Disney first announced in September that it planned to lay off 28,000 employees as the pandemic affected attendance at its parks. This decision drew negative reactions from politicians, including the senator. Elizabeth warrenElizabeth Warren Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams among Time Mnuchin magazine’s 2020 Person of the Year nominees to put 5B in COVID-19 relief funds out of reach of successor No, government can’t grab, break or ‘ bypass ” pharmaceutical patents – even for COVID-19 PLUS (D-Mass.), Who called the company for laying off his employees when he allegedly restored the salaries of his senior executives during the pandemic.