Take the Mickey! Even Disney is dejected as employees refuse to return to the office and management warns that working from home could destroy the company’s future
- More than 2,300 employees signed a petition urging Disney CEO Bob Iger to reverse a decree requiring all employees to work in the office four days a week
- A refusal to enter the office threatens to destroy the business, says an executive
- Disney will lay off 7,000 employees by the end of the year because of falling profits
Walt Disney’s creative talent has brought the world some of the greatest Hollywood films of all time.
But there are fears that the “collaborative process” that helped create such gems as “Bambi,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and “Toy Story” is under threat — by a generation of employees who prefer to work from home would work.
An executive at The Walt Disney Company told The Mail on Sunday that the refusal of young people to come to the office threatens to destroy the company’s future.
Last week, more than 2,300 employees signed a petition handed to Disney CEO Bob Iger, asking him to reverse a decree that says all employees must work in the office four days a week beginning March 1.
The petition warned that ending work-from-home policies put in place during Covid would “force the resignation of some of our hardest-to-replace talent”.
Last week, more than 2,300 employees signed a petition handed to Disney CEO Bob Iger, asking him to reverse a decree that says all employees must work in the office four days a week beginning March 1
The executive said last night: “Traditionally, some of the greatest films of all time have emerged from a collaborative process. They put authors in one space, talent in one space, leaders in one space. They fight, they exchange ideas, they yell – but sometimes you have that magical X-factor that makes a great movie.
“Young people don’t want to work anymore. bob [Iger] has ordered everyone to appear in the office Monday through Thursday from March 1st and a rebellion is underway.
Mr. Iger said: “Creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney. In a creative business, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with like-minded people that comes from being physically together.’
However, the source said he has received “several complaints” from parents who say the work-from-home policy fits in with their childcare plans. He has also received complaints from staffers who have claimed the new policy is “deeply harmful” to those who describe themselves as “neurodivergent” – individuals with conditions such as attention deficit disorder, autism and dyslexia. He said: “I will lose a fifth of my staff because I am told the office is not a ‘safe’ space.
Mr. Iger said: “Creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney. In a creative business, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with like-minded people that comes from being physically together.’
“There’s so much work going on that I’m afraid to say anything.” Hollywood has been reeling since Covid decimated the global box office. While there have been rare hits like Avatar 2 and Top Gun: Maverick, many projects developed while forced to work from home have stalled. A Toy Story spin-off, Lightyear, was a critical and commercial flop, and Strange World, a $100 million animation starring Jake Gyllenhaal, had one of Disney’s worst opening weekends.
Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans wasn’t a box office success either.
The source said, “All this working from home means that even great creatives like him have been allowed to pursue what you might call ‘vanity projects.'”
Disney plans to lay off 7,000 employees by the end of this year due to falling profits. This corresponds to about three percent of its 220,000 employees worldwide.
The company source said: “All I know is that if you don’t get people back together and talking to each other, you won’t create magic. Face-to-face interaction makes the magic possible