It's the day that WDW managers & directors have been dreading since July of 2006. Back when -- in an effort to contain costs at corporate headquarters -- Walt Disney Studios laid off 20% of its staff.

650 people who worked at Disney corporate headquarters lost their jobs then. And at that time, folks who worked in management at Disney Parks & Resorts were warned that a similar reduction-in-staff was headed their way.

But then 2006 gave way to 2007. And those execs who had felt the most vulnerable, who worked in divisions of Disney Parks & Resorts, Disney Vacation Club and the Disney Cruise Line that really weren't making their numbers, began to breathe easier. Thinking that they had actually dodged a bullet. That the long-rumored axe wasn't going to fall on them.

Well, think again. Back in October of 2008, Disney senior executives met in Burbank. And faced with declining ad revenues at ABC & ESPN, dropping attendance levels at the company's theme parks as well as a 30 % fall-off in DVD sales, Mouse House managers now felt that they had no choice. They had to make more cuts. And the most obvious place to start this time around was DP & R, DVC and DCL.

"Why there?," you ask. Well, at least when it comes to WDW management, there's long been a belief in Burbank that Disney World is too top heavy. That there's a Department of Redundancy Department aspect to that Resort's management team. With VPs reporting to VPs who then report to other VPs. And were the Mouse to streamline operations as well as reduce head count in Walt Disney World's executive suite ... Well, that would then go an awfully long way toward improving WDW's bottom line.

Now it's important to stress here that no one who works in Disney World management has actually been laid off. Not yet, anyway. Mouse House officials have identified 313 likely candidates at the Resort, Disney Vacation Club and Disney Cruise Line for buyouts. And as I understand it, a good number of the managers & directors who have been targeted are near and/or approaching retirement age. Which is why Disney hopes that at least 2/3rds of these candidates will actually opt for VPS (i.e. the Company's voluntary separation plan).

The Team Disney Building in Lake Buena Vista, FL.
Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved

Because -- should a sufficient number of WDW managers opt not to take advantage of Disney's voluntary separation package ... Well, that's where things get interesting.

You see, Mickey doesn't like to lay people off. It would rather lower Disney World's executive head count by way of attrition. But given what's going on with the economy right now ... If the only way that the Mouse can put heads in beds in Orlando is by rolling out a seemingly endless series of promotions & giveaways ... Well, that financial shortfall has to be made up somewhere. Particularly since the people who are visiting WDW these days just aren't meeting the Resort's per capita spending quotas. Especially when it comes to food & souvenir sales.

Now please keep in mind that this buyout is not a WDW / DVC / DCL -exclusive issue. Nearly 200 executives at Walt Disney Imagineering are also being offered this package. As are 90+ directors at Disneyland. 

Meanwhile back at the Studios ... There are lots of folks who are secretly enjoying this moment of schadenfreude. Having survived the 2006 layoffs, these Studios staffers are positively gleeful that it's Disney Parks & Resorts, Disney Vacation Club, the Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Imagineering who are now taking it in the shorts. Of course, this not-so-happy-camper attitude may have something to do with that edict that allegedly came down in Burbank last month. Which reportedly said that every film that Disney has in development and/or preproduction has to figure out a way to lower its proposed production costs by at least 20%.

But if the rumors I've been hearing lately prove to be true, the bad times may not be over in Burbank. Not yet, anyway. There's been lots of talk lately about yet another reduction-in-staff out there. With Walt Disney Animation Studios supposedly being targeted this time around.

But as of right now, all eyes are on February 6th. To see how many of the 619 directors & managers who've been offered this buyout actually opt to take the voluntary separation package. For if not enough execs volunteer to exit over the next two weeks ... Well, from what I've been told, the layoffs in WDW management could begin before March.

Your thoughts?

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