More Economic Woes for Orlando: Disney Announces Layoffs

Written by admin on 28 February 2009

A report by journalist John Couwels for CNN says Disney World has announced a major loss of income and is planning to layoff employees, maybe as early as this week. Even the Magic Kingdom can’t avoid the reality of the country’s economic slump and this year could be even worse. Officials expect tourism to be down from 8 to 10 percent in 2009.

Disney employs some 62,000 individuals, making it the largest single-site employer in the U.S. “We are bigger than the Pentagon,” says Disney spokesman Mike Griffin. Although he wouldn’t say how many cuts are anticipated, he indicated the number would be significant but affect only back office workers, so visitors to the park won’t notice any difference.

Merchants along International Drive near the Disney attraction, such as hotels, restaurants, and tee-shirt shops have been hurt by the drop in tourism. One gift shop owner, Aby Aly, said business is down by 35 percent. A local restaurant owner, Pom Moongauklang, is doing whatever she can to keep the doors open. She cut her employees’ hours rather than cut jobs, lowered prices and extended hours. She’s working 60 to 70 hours a week. “It’s killing me, but it’s working,” she said. She, like many business owners near Disney, are hanging on.

In the suburbs, away from the business district, more businesses have closed and neighborhoods are seeing increased foreclosures. This bad news for the Orlando area, however, means good news for home buyers. Sales prices and interest rates are at record lows. Homeowners are selling via short sales for less than the mortgage amount or falling into foreclosure resulting in further reductions in house prices. With the glut of houses on the market today, buyers can choose from thousands of homes and take advantage of bargain prices.

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Read Also: Orlando Florida Facts & Resources

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