Disney CEO Iger on hiring freeze, parks reservations, Lake Nona move
Returning Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger held a 45-minute employee town hall meeting Monday afternoon answering a range of questions, including the fate of the hiring freeze that was announced by former CEO Bob Chapek before he left, the proposed move to Imagineers to Lake Nona in Florida, rumors about Apple purchasing Disney, and the need for inclusion in storytelling, according to numerous news sources.
Here are highlights of what he had to say:
Hiring freeze is still on
In response to a poor quarterly showing, recently ousted Disney CEO Chapek instituted a hiring freeze with the exception of “a small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions.” Iger said there are no current plans to change the hiring freeze. He said Disney needs to make its streaming business profitable rather than focusing on just adding subscribers, according to CNBC.
Future of Parks Pass reservation system
Iger said while he has read about the parks pass system, the good and the bad, but had never used it himself and was not familiar with its inner workings. He said he would speak with Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro about the future of the park reservation system. The system has become controversial forcing people to purchase a ticket and make a reservation to a specific park. When the system was rolled in in 2020 as the parks reopened from COVID-19 to help regulate attendance, D’Amaro had said the system will be sticking around.
Rumors of Apple buying Disney
Iger dismissed the idea of Apple purchasing Disney as “pure speculation.” He said he doe not expect the company to make any significant acquisitons during this tenure as CEO.
“We have a great set of assets here,” while noting that every acquisition also included people who have been critical to Disney’s success. “Nothing is forever, but I am very, very comfortable with each of the assets that we have,” according to the Hollywood Reporter..
Lake Nona move
One part of former CEO Chapek’s plan was to move 2,000 positions, mostly Imagineers from Glendale, California to a new campus to be built at Lake Nona inFlorida. Those plans have been delayed. When asked about the move Iger said he would look into the ramifications and who would be impacted and has not made a final decision on what to do, specifically saying: “I don’t in any way mean to indicate reversing the decision that was made, but it is something that I will look into”.
“Don’t Say Gay” bill, politics and inclusion
Disney, under Chapek, faced criticism from employees for not speaking up a soon enough againstFlorida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill which bans instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the wrath of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when they did finally come out against the bill.
As a private citizen Iger voiced his opposition to the law. As the CEO he said it is important to have that inclusion.
“This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world. And one of the reasons that they’ve had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance. And we can’t lose that. We just can’t lose that,” according to CNBC.
These values are not political, he said as he was asked by employees if the company would stay out of politics.
“I think there is a misperception here on what politics is. I think that some of the subjects that have proven to be controversial as it relates to Disney have been branded ‘political’, and I don’t necessarily think they are,” he said. “I don’t think that when you are telling stories and attempting to be a good citizen of the world that that’s political. Just not how I view it.”
