Without a clear end to the coronavirus pandemic in sight, Disney recently announced that it would begin to furlough employees.
According to the New York Post, the company will be furloughing employees “whose jobs aren’t necessary” by April 19.
However, while the employees are temporarily laid off, they will continue to receive full health care benefits, and the cost of employee and company premiums will be covered by Disney.
Although the company declined to say how many employees would be furloughed, about 75% of its 223,000 employees are categorized under the Parks and Products division.
All of Disney’s theme parks have been closed since March 15, but the company has pledged to continue paying salaries through April 18. Meanwhile, its cruises aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future and it had to delay movie releases while theaters across the nation are closed.
Disney has also announced that it will not collect payments from annual passholders while its theme parks are closed, as of April 5. Passholders who made a monthly payment between March 14 and April 14 will get a refund. However, pass expiration dates will not be extended.
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This article appears in Apr 2-9, 2020.