◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek October 12, 202014
CaitlinBusscher,a nearly10-yearWaltDisneyCo.
employee,hadbeenlookingforwardtoreturning
toworkaftermaternityleave.Busscher,whostarted
outtakingcustomersurveysonMainStreetofthe
MagicKingdomPark,workedherwayuptodesign-
ingcustomtoursforfamiliescomingtoOrlando.
Lastweekwassupposedtobeherfirstback.It didn’t
turnoutthatway.BusscherwasnotifiedonOct. 1
thatherjobwasbeingeliminated—alongwithabout
28,000othersatDisney’spandemic-slammedU.S.
resortsandconsumerproductsdivision.
“I thinkpeopleunderstandit’sa business
decision,it’snotpersonal,”saysBusscher,34,
who’slookingforanotherjob,possiblyonethat
isn’ttravel-related.“Idon’tknowwhat’saround
thecorner.”
Themeparks,purveyorsoffamilyfunandgood
times,arelookinglikeanythingbutthehappiest
placesonEarththesedays.InadditiontoDisney’s
firingofabouta quarteroftheemployeesinits
U.S.resortsbusiness,otheroperators,including
ComcastCorp.’sUniversalStudiosandSeaWorld
EntertainmentInc.,haveidledorletgothousands
ofworkers.That’sbecauseattendancebydomestic
guestshasbeenlimited,bothbysocialdistancing
requirementsandtheunwillingnessofAmericansto
getonairplanesforvacations.Internationalvisitors
arealmostnonexistentbecauseoftravelbans.In
California,hometoDisneyland,stateofficialshave
beenreluctanttoevenletparksreopen.
“Peoplearejustnotreadytocomebackyet,and
we’reexperiencingthatineverysegmentofthe
industry—themeparks,waterparks,familyenter-
tainmentcenters,”saysDennisSpeigel,a themepark
consultantinCincinnati.“Ithasbeencatastrophic.”
The pain at theparks mirrors whatother
businessesdependentontravelandbigcrowds
areexperiencing,fromcasinosinLasVegasto
yourlocalmovietheater.Withthevirusstilla
significantrisk,a feelinglikely reinforcedby
PresidentTrump’sdiagnosis,it’spossiblemany
tourist-dependentcitieswillseea secondwaveof
economicdamagethisyear,broughtbythenew
roundsofjoblosses.“TheDisneylayoffssignalthe
leisureindustrywon’tbethesame,notanytime
soon,”saysMarkZandi,aneconomistatMoody’s
Analytics.“It’sgoingtotaketwotothreeyearsto
fullycatchup.Thisis notcomingbackfast.”
AftershuttingitsparksinMarch,Disneykept
payingitsemployees.Amonthlater,itshifted
to furloughs, meaning employees continued
toreceivebenefitsbut didn’tgetpaid.When
summercameanditsFloridaparksreopenedto
disappointing traffic, Disney began telling workers
many wouldn’t be coming back. But the size of thecutshasshockedthemnonetheless.
Workers UnitedLocal50,whichrepresents
food-servicestaffatthestill-shutteredDisneyland
inAnaheim,Calif.,standstolosemorethana
thirdofits7,800membersinthelayoffs,saysChris
Duarte,itspresident.Theunionhasspentthepast
fewmonthsrunningfoodbanks,helpingmembers
applyforunemploymentbenefits,andpreparing
mealsforthosewho’vegottenthecoronavirus.
NegotiationshavebegunwithDisneyoverwhat
rolesenioritywillplayinwhogetscut,Duartesays.
“Whatweknowrightnowis howmany,”hesays.
“Thewhois stillyettobedetermined.”
SomeofCalifornia’sunionspushedbackon
reopeningearlierintheyear,writinga letterto
GovernorGavinNewsominJuneurginghimto
makesuretheparksweredoingsoina waythat
protectsemployee safety. Soon after,Disney
indefinitely postponed a planned July reopening for
its California parks. More recently, Disney’s unions
turned to the governor again, asking him to sign
legislation requiring companies to give priority to
workers they laid off when they do rehire. Newsom
vetoed the bill on Sept. 30, saying it was too broad.
Relations between the company and the
state’s leadership have grown frosty, with Disney
Executive Chairman Bob Iger stepping down from
a state reopening task force and Disney’s theme
parks chief saying in the memo announcing the
layoffs that the company’s predicament has been
“exacerbated in California by the state’s unwilling-
ness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland
to reopen.” Besides strict distancing requirements,
the state was proposing that the county where a
park is located must be in the lower tier of Covid-
cases statewide before it could reopen—potentially
keeping Disney’s properties closed indefinitely.
The governor’s veto of the worker-rehiring bill
was another disappointment in a year of them for
Glynndana Shevlin, 60, a 32-year Disney employee
who served as a concierge at the E-Ticket Club at
the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. She’s waiting to
hear if she’s among the workers to be let go.
Shevlin was among the last employees locking
up when the hotel closed in March and has been
on unemployment for much of the year. She’s
been able to keep up with her rent and other pay-
ments but worries that if she permanently loses her
$18-an-hour job she’ll also be without health-care
coverage. “We all thought we’d be back sooner,” she
says. “We didn’t see the future being the way it was.”
For workers at Disney’s Florida attractions,
there’s similar uncertainty. About 14% of workers
in the Orlando/Kissimmee area are employed in
accommodation and food service, making it the▼ Theme park revenueDisney$6b420
Q1’17 Q2 ’$1.5b1.0.0
Q1’17 Q2 ’NBC Universal$600m4002000
Q1’17 Q2 ’Six Flags