Disney layoffs could create stress on Florida's unemployment resources
ORLANDO, Fla. - Another shakeup at Disney is leaving employees unsure about their job security.
In a company-wide message obtained by FOX Business, we learned Walt Disney World will begin making cuts this week.
"It’s just companies right now dealing with what’s going on on the ground. How many people do we have? Do we have too many? What about departments as a whole? Do we need to get rid of certain departments," FOX News Business contributor, Gary Kaltbaum, said.
This cut will be the first of three rounds. According to the memo, the "second, larger round" will take place in April and the third is slated for "before the beginning of the summer." The layoffs are projected to trim Disney’s staff by about 7,000 workers.
According to Disney CEO Bob Iger’s memo, staff reductions will "result in a more cost-effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach" to the company and its operations.
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"Just keep in mind, this is only 3% of Disney’s workforce of 220,000 people and they’re just adjusting as they say, to reality of a stock price that has lost more than half of its value to where Disney is not valued at $175 billion, it was at over $360 billion," Kaultbaum said.
While we are still waiting to learn how many Floridians will be affected by the cuts, Orlando State Representative Anna Eskamani is concerned we could see a repeat of what happened with unemployment during the pandemic.
"The state’s unemployment system is not even able to handle small unemployment levels let alone large. We continue to get emails from constituents from across the state of Florida who are experiencing delays with the unemployment system," Eskamani said.
She said funding was allocated to improve the Department of Economic Opportunity’s website in 2021, but those changes will not take effect until 2024 at the earliest.
"So the options for someone to continue to pay their bills on time, be healthy and strong, have food in their belly and a roof over their head as they get back on their feet is just really not a reality in Florida," Eskamani said.