Soldiers Lost at Magic Kingdom
Imagination is running low in the world as Disney’s Theme Parks have opened with limited capacity or been completely shut down. The lack of visits to the Magic Kingdom have really taken a toll on Disney’s ability to retain their employees and keep the magic flowing for the company.
On Tuesday, Disney announced that it will lay off 28,000 employees across its parks, experiences and consumer product division. In a statement by Josh D’Amaro, head of parks at Disney, D’Amaro clarified that 67% of the laid off workers are part-time employees.
Disney has theme parks around the world with parks in Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Florida and California. As the coronavirus pandemic affected each region differently, Disney has been able to reopen most parks with limited capacity. California’s parks haven’t been so lucky and have remained closed throughout the pandemic.
This presents a major problem for the company. In 2019, 37% of Disney’s revenue came from their theme parks, experiences and consumer products. By looking at this year’s earnings releases, investors can already see the damage. In the second quarter of this year, they reported a loss of $1 billion in operating income and in the third quarter, things got much worse when the company reported a loss of a whopping $3.5 billion.
The day a coronavirus vaccine will be approved and released will truly be a magical day for Disney’s employees and revenues.
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.