Last month, it was reported that well over 40,000 employees of Disney would be furloughed because of COVID-19, but soon after announced that they would stop paying 100,000 workers because of the global pandemic. Now the entertainment/vacation giant has declared that the company has lost over $1 billion due to closures surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Disney, the tremendous loss is due primarily to closing of television operations, retail stores, and Disney parks. Disney CEO Bob Chapek and Executive Chairman Bob Iger released a statement on the matter, saying, “While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an appreciable financial impact on a number of our businesses, we are confident in our ability to withstand this disruption and emerge from it in a strong position.”
The statement went on saying, “Disney has repeatedly shown that it is exceptionally resilient, bolstered by the quality of our storytelling and the strong affinity consumers have for our brands, which is evident in the extraordinary response to Disney+ since its launch last November. While it’s too early to predict when we’ll be able to begin resuming all of our operations, we are evaluating a number of different scenarios to ensure a cautious, sensible and deliberate approach to the eventual reopening of our parks.”
Currently, the only Disney park slated to reopen is the Shanghai location, which will reopen today(May 11).
