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Walt Disney World information technology workers laid off

Layoffs came Friday

About 500 information technology workers at Disney have learned they're losing their jobs.
About 500 information technology workers at Disney have learned they're losing their jobs.
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Walt Disney World information technology workers laid off
Layoffs came Friday
About 500 information technology workers at Disney have learned they're losing their jobs.WESH 2's Greg Fox spoke with a handful of people who said they were laid off on Friday. They all declined to be interviewed on camera because they're hoping to be able to land job in some other area of the company.Several people said that they felt like they had a good chance of keeping their jobs.  During the day we saw workers carrying or wheeling boxes of their belongings to their cars in the parking lot at Team Disney, right across from Downtown Disney. Several workers said they were ordered in October to reapply for their jobs.These are not just people who work on Disney World's behind-the-scenes technology. They're also the ones who worked on the roll-out of "MyMagic Plus," including the development of MagicBands that allow visitors to use wrist bands to enter parks, and buy merchandise food and drinks.Workers also said since India-based HCL landed Disney's IT contract in 2012, they have seen more international employees being hired locally, and they said many of Disney's information technology jobs are being outsourced overseas.Most watched: Brawling pandas are violently adorableA Disney spokeswoman said the figure of 500 layoffs is not correct, but refused to give a number of layoffs in Florida or nationally."We are restructuring our global technology organization to support future innovation and new capabilities, and will work with leading technical firms to maintain our existing systems," Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said.14277566

About 500 information technology workers at Disney have learned they're losing their jobs.

WESH 2's Greg Fox spoke with a handful of people who said they were laid off on Friday. They all declined to be interviewed on camera because they're hoping to be able to land job in some other area of the company.

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Several people said that they felt like they had a good chance of keeping their jobs.  

During the day we saw workers carrying or wheeling boxes of their belongings to their cars in the parking lot at Team Disney, right across from Downtown Disney. 

Several workers said they were ordered in October to reapply for their jobs.

These are not just people who work on Disney World's behind-the-scenes technology. They're also the ones who worked on the roll-out of "MyMagic Plus," including the development of MagicBands that allow visitors to use wrist bands to enter parks, and buy merchandise food and drinks.

Workers also said since India-based HCL landed Disney's IT contract in 2012, they have seen more international employees being hired locally, and they said many of Disney's information technology jobs are being outsourced overseas.

Most watched: Brawling pandas are violently adorable

A Disney spokeswoman said the figure of 500 layoffs is not correct, but refused to give a number of layoffs in Florida or nationally.

"We are restructuring our global technology organization to support future innovation and new capabilities, and will work with leading technical firms to maintain our existing systems," Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said.