It is a very sad day in the house that the mouse built. Disney Parks Experience and Products have been notified by Disney they will begin laying off approximately 28,000 cast members. Of the layoffs, approximately 67% of the layoffs will be to part-time employees.

Below are portions of the email sent from Josh D’Amaro to Disney Cast members.

Let me start with my belief that the heart and soul of our business is and always will be people. Just like all of you, I love what I do. I also love being surrounded by people who think about their roles as more than jobs, but as opportunities to be a part of something special, something different, and something truly magical.

Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, we were forced to close our businesses around the world. Few of us could have imagined how significantly the pandemic would impact us – both at work and in our daily lives. We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. And, as a result, today we are now forced to reduce the size of our team across executive, salaried, and hourly roles.

As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy. For the last several moths, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the Company. We cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our Cast Members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.

As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic.

Thank you for your dedication, patience and understanding during these difficult times. I know that these changes will be challenging. it will take time for all of us to process this information and its impact. We will be scheduling appointments with our affected salaried and non-union hourly employees over the next few days. Additionally, today we will begin the process of discussing next steps with unions.

For those affected by this decision, I want to thank you for all that you have done for this company and our guests. While we don’t know when the pandemic will be behind us, we are confident in our resilience, and hope to welcome back Cast Members and employees when we can.

– Josh D’Amaro

D’Amaro also offered up a press statement as well. Here is what he said:

Read: Disney Parks To Bring Back Character Meet and Greets at Select Parks

There has been a mass pouring of people asking for guidance from Governor Newsom to offer some kind of plan for a safe opening. Disney had a press conference last week stating Disneyland is ready and its time to reopen. Please keep all the Disney Cast Members in your thoughts as it will be a very difficult time for many of them in the future.

And as always, stick with us here at The Disinsider for all the parks news as it happens.