Walt Disney Co has scrapped plans to relocate 2,000 jobs to Florida due to “changing business conditions” in the state. The decision comes amid a widening legal battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the entertainment giant. Disney parks chief Josh D’Amaro said the company had reconsidered its 2021 plan to relocate employees, including its Imagineers who design theme park rides, to a new campus in Lake Nona.
The original decision to relocate employees to Florida from California had prompted complaints from many employees. Disney CEO Bob Iger had publicly questioned Florida’s interest in the company’s continued investment, noting that the company employed more than 75,000 people in Florida and had plans to invest $17 billion to expand the resort over the next decade.
The dispute between Disney and DeSantis started in March 2022, when Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Chapek, criticized legislation in Florida that would limit the discussion of gender identity and sexuality in elementary schools. DeSantis then moved to strip Disney of its long-standing self-governing power over Walt Disney World in Orlando. Disney called the move political retaliation over what should be protected free speech and sued the state last month to have the moves reversed.
Despite the setback, D’Amaro remains optimistic about the direction of the Walt Disney World business. “We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next ten years. I hope we’re able to do so,” he said.