Disney Headlines for January 14th, 2023
Bob Iger just announced his first executive decision of 2023, and I don’t think any of us had it on our Disney bingo cards.
Let’s talk about the generation gap in this week’s Disney Headlines.
Bob Iger Is 71
I’m starting this section with an acknowledgment regarding Bob Iger’s age. If you know what I’m about to discuss, you understand why it’s important.
To his credit, Iger has largely listened rather than spoken during his first six weeks back as The Walt Disney Company’s CEO.
On Monday, Disney’s leader finally said something. And it’s gonna be a thing.
Here’s the headline straight from the New York Times:
“Starting on March 1, the Walt Disney Company will require employees to report to the office four days a week, a relatively strict policy among large companies.”
I want absolutely nothing to do with the politics of this conversation and kinda wanted to crawl back into bed and put the covers over my head when I heard this.
The toxicity alert on this subject is off the charts, but we talk about Disney here. So, here’s what’s happening.
Iger retired from Disney in 2021 at the age of 69. Nobody used the word “early” with “retirement” in speaking about him, either.
Iger comes from a different generation. One of the hallmarks of his era was a vibrant workplace filled with conversations among creatives.
During the pandemic, many companies switched to a hybrid model that included work-from-home (WFH) options. Disney was definitely part of this group.
Realistically, most non-healthcare/essential worker companies followed that strategy. The ones who didn’t take this approach lost staff during the Great Resignation.
In a perfect world, most people would prefer to work at home rather than in an office filled with associates and colleagues. There’s a lot of data to support this notion.
However, a generation gap exists. Many of the executives championing a post-pandemic return to the office come from Iger’s generation.
Gen Z feels precisely the opposite. And that’s the problem.
Iger’s Big Call
As usual, Iger communicated his business philosophy clearly.
He states that “in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with peers that comes from being physically together.”
For this reason, Iger has informed Disney’s hybrid workers that they must return to the office four days per week starting on March 1st.
What you likely won’t hear is that Disney hasn’t modified its policy that much. The company already expected office work to occur three days a week in 2022.
Honestly, Iger sounds like he desired this potentially negative headline, and I suspect there’s a reason why.
Disney knows that cost-cutting remains likely during calendar 2023. Enforcing more hours in the office will lead to more staff turnover.
A recent poll suggests that 27 percent of Gen Z workers consider a WFH option a necessity. So, a lot of those people will leave the company.
As such, Iger’s “get back to the office” announcement counts as a feature, not a bug. I suspect he wants some employees to leave willingly.
The Pros and Cons for Iger
This subtle encouragement of resignation by the WFH crowd will reduce the numbers if/when Disney performs layoffs.
Disney likely views its youngest workers as more fungible, but the strategy comes with a downside, too.
Those Gen Z workers earn less than the older generation, whom Iger knows will more readily return to the office.
Wall Street views Iger’s announcement as a more stringent back-to-the-office policy than most businesses of similar scale.
Reception to the policy change hasn’t been as positive as Iger may have hoped, indicating that American society has definitely evolved on the topic of office culture.
One in six American workers is fully remote. I’ve been one of them for 20 years now, and it felt right for me.
However, my ex-wife told me early in the pandemic that she’d lose her mind if she couldn’t return to the office quickly. Everyone is different.
The trick here, the cause for the controversy, is that Iger is taking away something that previous CEO Bob Chapek had given employees.
Now, they must return to work an extra day each week, which doesn’t sound bad from the outside perspective. When you’re living it, one WFH day feels like a lot less than two, though.
This move may work well for Disney in terms of achieving Iger’s headcount goals.
To critics, it comes across as worrisome that maybe Iger has become a relic of a dying business philosophy, though.
Other Disney Headlines
Let’s start with a cryptic Disney tweet:
>◎//: Need a Clu? pic.twitter.com/fRflNcphH7
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) January 9, 2023
Yes, that sure looks like a puzzle regarding the opening date of Tron Lightcycle Power Run at Magic Kingdom.
Some of those clues like line six – DL 07,171,955 – are easy to decipher. That’s Disneyland’s opening date of July 17th, 1955.
The second clue immediately triggered plenty of online speculation, albeit temporarily.
You could read it in multiple ways, but it hinted at a potential opening date of March 21st, April 21st, or June 12th, 2023.
Disney didn’t wait long to reveal the answer, which was none of the above. Tron Lightcycle Power Run will debut on April 4, 2023.
I’d expected sometime before Memorial Day, 2023, which is May 29th. So, the April date makes more sense.
The mystery lasted less than 24 hours, though. Here’s the solution if you don’t see it: 1+3 = 4 and 2+1 = 3. So, it’s 4/3/2023.
Meanwhile, Downtown Disney lost a longtime partner this week. La Brea Bakery closed permanently on Monday.
The move was an absolute shocker, as Aspire Bakeries, the owner, pivoted to a new business model. They’re prioritizing in-grocery store bakery sales over restaurants.
This depressing bit of news comes with a glorious positive, though. Disney has announced that Earl of Sandwich will temporarily operate out of this space!
So, Disneyland Resort fans have a pop-up sandwich shop to anticipate in February. Even better, it’s the restaurant they always miss when it’s gone!