Disney's Mass Lay-Offs

I’m not sure if you noticed, but Disney recently laid off 1000 people.

This is my issue with At-Will Employment. I know it’s effective in removing bad employees, especially when they drag down production, but there’s no long-term job security guaranteed for anyone. Additionally, many of those who were fired had been there for over a decade, even helping to shape divisions like Marvel and Pixar. In fact, one person even mentioned that he was fired in front of a Loki mural he’d created. Talk about irony!

It sucks because I was defending Disney’s decision to axe a live-action Robin Hood remake a month ago. In that, I said the following about the company’s new heads: 

“…It’s possible they’ll disappoint, especially since they have to appease shareholders, but this is a step in the right direction…”

I didn’t expect Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, to disappoint me this quickly! However, he did. It’s as if he took everything people were frustrated with Bob Iger over, particularly cost-cutting, and fast-tracked it. It’s even more harrowing when you consider that Disney laid off their home media division, which means they’re most-likely not going to have physical media releases anymore going forward. Smooth.

It’d be easy to point the finger squarely at Disney here, but this problem has been plaguing Hollywood for some time. Between financial straits, the rise in streaming and A.I., grunt workers are always the first to get squeezed. It doesn’t help that WB being purchased by Paramount indicates a lack of government oversight, especially given Paramount’s CEO’s attitude about Hollywood in general. We already saw that with the Scream franchise…

I’m getting off-track here. While it sucks that Disney laid off 1000 employees, it shouldn’t be surprising. Like I said, At-Will Employment allows for this! It also doesn’t guarantee job security, and you’d be foolish thinking otherwise. So while I wish those impacted the best, I’m not shocked. I’m frustrated, but not shocked.

You know what sucks more? The people at the top won’t be impacted. In a healthy work environment, the CEO would take pay cuts to retain workers. That’s what Nintendo did when the Wii U wasn’t panning out financially. However, loyalty to your employees isn’t something that exists in The West, so perhaps that’s unfair to mention. I wish it weren’t, though.

I wouldn’t be as annoyed if businesses didn’t consider their employees disposable. Yes, A.I. might seem like a good choice right now. And yes, cost-cutting is a real concern. But that shouldn’t mean gutting people who made you what you are. Disney didn’t become successful based on the decisions of one or two people. They became a juggernaut because of the grunt workers who brought their voices to the table, each and every one. Be it designers, marketers or idea people, these individuals all contributed. Letting them go like this, even if they’re going to be hired now on a per-need basis, is a slap to the face.

So what now? I don’t know. Disney’s made interesting creative decisions since this development, including re-releasing several classics in ASL, but that’s not enough to turn a blind eye. If anything, it feels like a distraction. And while it’s nice to see “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” in sign language, however difficult it must’ve been to animate, it leaves a bitter taste considering many of the people involved aren’t employed by Disney anymore, going by the timeline of this announcement.

It feels like I’m rambling here, but it’s only because I like Disney’s output. They’ve made and released some of my favourite movies, and they know how to weather storms. Buying and bankrolling The MCU has benefited that franchise immensely, and their investment in Star Wars has mostly paid off. Which is all the more reason why this sucks. Considering we won’t see the long-term impacts of these firings for several years, I also shudder to think what’ll happen creatively for them.

I’m not running a corporation, I get it. I don’t have to listen to shareholders breathing down my neck. But it’d be nice if the higher ups treated grunt workers with respect. Perhaps some are worth firing, but 1000 of them? And with short notice? Could there not have been one-on-one evaluations of their performances before making this decision? Or would that have been costly?

This’d also be less irritating if A.I. weren’t such a hot topic in Hollywood nowadays. I know it’s enticing, truly! But getting rid of people for it isn’t the answer. It’s also not cheaper, as we’re now learning. Besides, why fire someone and replace them with something that doesn’t create?

Disney, specifically D’Amaro, has lots of explaining to do. It’s possible D’Amaro’s the better choice to succeed Iger than Bob Chapek, especially given how that panned out, but this isn’t a good start. Companies act as though people are replaceable, and they might be, but this isn’t the answer. Especially since human labour’s the lifeblood of a corporation, whether they want to acknowledge it or not. I only hope Disney doesn’t learn this the hard way…