More pain at the Mouse House.
Walt Disney Co.(NYSE:DIS) has announced that it is laying off 32,000 workers, mostly at its theme parks, an increase from the 28,000 it announced in September, as the company continues to struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The layoffs will be undertaken in the first half of 2021, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier in November, Disney said it was furloughing additional workers from its theme park in Southern California due to uncertainty over when the state would allow theme parks and attractions to reopen.
Disney’s theme parks in Florida and those outside the United States reopened earlier this year without seeing new major Covid-19 outbreaks but with strict social distancing, testing and mask use.
However, Disneyland Paris was forced to close again in October when France imposed a new lockdown to fight a second wave of the virus. The company’s theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo remain open.
The downturn at Disney’s theme parks has been partially offset by the success of the company’s streaming service, Disney+, which has racked up nearly 75 million paying subscribers worldwide since launching in November 2019.
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