Disney bringing 2,000 jobs from California to Orlando

by | Jul 19, 2021



The Walt Disney Company is relocating about 2,000 jobs from California to Orlando’s Lake Nona community.

Lake Nona, located just south of the Orlando International Airport and approximately 15 miles east of Walt Disney World Resort, is a mixed-use, planned community that is owned and developed by the Tavistock Development Company.

“With Disney’s move and large investment in our community, we are delighted to welcome one of the world’s most recognized brands to Lake Nona,” Nick Beucher, President of Tavistock Development Company told Fox Orlando. “By choosing to build a new regional campus in Lake Nona, Disney will become part of this smart city where cutting-edge ideas turn into realities.”

Described as a community that has a “technology and innovation culture,” Lake Nona is also where the country’s first “Vertiport” for all-electric, vertical take-off and landing jet aircraft is planned to be operating by 2025.

Disney company officials said the move to Florida has been in the works since 2019 and would primarily involve employees in the parks, experiences and products division.

Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (DPEP) said in a letter to staff on Thursday, “Expanding our already significant [Disney parks, experiences and products] footprint in Florida makes sense.

“In addition to Florida’s business-friendly climate, this new regional campus gives us the opportunity to consolidate our teams and be more collaborative and impactful both from a creative and operational standpoint.”

Disney already employs more than 60,000 staff members in central Florida.

D’Amaro and other Disney officials stressed that the Burbank-based company was not abandoning Southern California, where its film and television divisions are located. The 2,000 positions that will be relocated represent less than five percent of Disney’s total staff in California, according to Disney officials.

1 Comment

  1. RSC

    This doesn’t create any jobs for local Floridian’s just a relocation of management level jobs to another state. Also what about the tax break they’re getting for an apparent expansion in Lake Nona for an established company that is already here.

 

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