# I pit Disney's replacing American workers with foreign **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 23, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645 "2015-05-23T10:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/1 "2015-05-23T10:43:47Z")
I’ve been reading about how Disney has been replacing many of its IT staff with cheap foreign labor. Not only that, the current Disney staff have been forced to train their replacements. One guy said he was told to either train his replacement or he would get no severance. Their is also widespread complaints of the overuse of bringing in workers on H1-B visas. All this in a company that has shown record profits. This just ticks me off. Disney has always seemed to pride itself on having “cast members” and being an American company but this thing about forcing good people with long ties to the company and excellent reviews, to just boot them out and also to FORCE them to train their replacement is just about one of the meanest things a company could do. I wish somehow people could bring this up with Disney executives and stockholders to force them to answer questions. Along with this I think we should all go after our politicians in this election cycle to stop this H1-B program which only hurts American workers. [LINK](http://www.computerworld.com/article/2915904/it-outsourcing/fury-rises-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/2 "2015-05-23T18:02:16Z")
Welcome to capitalism (which is entirely fine, if Disney wants to get a cheaper workforce they absolutely can go ahead and do so), and to the kind of Employment At Will where severance is a discretionary favor and not an entitled right (which is a dick move). Happiest place on Earth! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/3 "2015-05-23T18:10:04Z")
This is the same company that tried to [trademark](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304066504576345752703592770) “SEAL TEAM SIX” after Bin Laden was killed. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/4 "2015-05-23T18:12:46Z")
We can argue about immigration policy all we want, but no one was “forced” to train his replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/5 "2015-05-23T18:38:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We can argue about immigration policy all we want, but no one was “forced” to train his replacement. Well according to the story it was train them or get no severance. Plus they offered a 10% bonus and dangled the idea that they might be rehired at a future date. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/6 "2015-05-23T18:39:02Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’ve been reading about how Disney has been replacing many of its IT staff with cheap foreign labor. Not only that, the current Disney staff have been forced to train their replacements… Yes replacement, remember this… if a user has a problem, the answer is to go to Regedit and delete the registry. Then reinstall the registry from a backup of windows 95. We’ll do it on my last day here for practice. There, you’re trained. Easy wasn’t it? Bye Disney. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/7 "2015-05-23T18:54:05Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well according to the story it was train them or get no severance. Plus they offered a 10% bonus and dangled the idea that they might be rehired at a future date. They were paid to train their replacements, not forced. Severance pay is at the discretion of the employer. If you want to use SPECIAL EMPHASIS on the words you use, you should use them correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/8 "2015-05-23T19:51:32Z")
Disney is notorious for skirting labor laws. Some of my friends are Key Grips, Set designers, etc. A few of them worked on The Suite Life of Cody & Zack. The minimum number of years a show can run is 3 before a raise to existing staff happens. After three years, they bag the show. Why? To make Suite Life on Deck. Same damn thing on a boat. The show contains the minimum number of characters (Zack, Cody, Mom), moves it to a new set (boat) adds new characters. This means that this is not a continuation of Suite Life, but a BRAND new show. Therefore, no raise. The workers quit, Disney hires new crew at old wage, wash, rinse, repeat. Other co-workers have worked as schedulers in the Burbank office. You schedule post work with post houses, get a desk, celebrate everything Disney, everyone’s birthday, $14 bucks an hour. Layoffs come like clockwork for “new direction” and other buzzword bullshit so there are very few people that keep their job after one or two years. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/9 "2015-05-23T19:58:17Z")
Blame the high cost of US labor. Still think that raising the minimum wage is a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/10 "2015-05-23T21:06:13Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Blame the high cost of US labor. Still think that raising the minimum wage is a good idea? I don’t think any of the workers affected were making MW, so that doesn’t make much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/11 "2015-05-23T22:43:17Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Blame the high cost of US labor. Still think that raising the minimum wage is a good idea? Now there’s the kind of smart, thoughtful, to-the-point insight our country needs these days! That’s how to fix our economic problems - make sure our workers get paid less! Productivity be damned, it’s all about the shareholders, dammit! Keep those bottom lines high, high, high! Race to the bottom. Here’s a hint - it doesn’t end well. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/12 "2015-05-23T23:37:05Z")
**Urbanredneck** , haven’t you heard? Engineers, IT, assemblers, designers, writers, etc. are commodities. They are fungible, as interchangeable as any cog in a machine. “Tell HR we’ll need two-and-a-half tons of engineer on this project, and half-a-ton of IT. Shop around, see who has it the cheapest.” Executives, on the other hand, are unique and irreplaceable. Each brings such a particular insight to their job as to be worth millions in compensation (never “salary”, never “benefits”, always “compensation”). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/13 "2015-05-24T00:09:20Z")
There should be no H-1B visas. These are not jobs Americans don’t want to do, these are jobs people invested time and money training for, only to be displaced by imported foreign workers. It is bad enough that American companies send jobs overseas, it is just insulting to allow them to bring foreign workers here to take good jobs on American soil. The purpose of government is to increase the prosperity of as many citizens as possible, across the country at all income levels, not just stockholders and corporate elite. Laying off hundreds of highly trained employees and replacing them with lower paid immigrants is antithetical to that principle. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/14 "2015-05-24T00:10:05Z")
25% of Disney’s profits come from overseas-- a number that is sure to grow. Why shouldn’t they hire overseas? The countries they are hiring in also consume Disney products. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/15 "2015-05-24T00:22:54Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > 25% of Disney’s profits come from overseas-- a number that is sure to grow. Why shouldn’t they hire overseas? The countries they are hiring in also consume Disney products. We have no obligation to make sure other countries get jobs just because they buy our products. In fact, we should do everything we can to make that equation as lop-sided in our favor as our laws allow. That is what governments are for; each looks out for their own interests and those of their citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/16 "2015-05-24T00:34:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > We have no obligation to make sure other countries get jobs just because they buy our products. In fact, we should do everything we can to make that equation as lop-sided in our favor as our laws allow. That is what governments are for; each looks out for their own interests and those of their citizens. Then they should do their best not to restrict these types of things, since free trade increases the overall standard of living and economic growth for both countries. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/17 "2015-05-24T00:39:10Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > We have no obligation to make sure other countries get jobs just because they buy our products. In fact, we should do everything we can to make that equation as lop-sided in our favor as our laws allow. That is what governments are for; each looks out for their own interests and those of their citizens. I’m not really convinced Disney is “ours”. Surely we don’t lay claim to, say Disneyland Paris or the quickly growing Disney Education sector in China? I’m not sure how you’d ever run a multinational if there was some kind of rule that you can only hire Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/18 "2015-05-24T00:51:27Z")
Other Disney news. Disney actually has a hazmat team standing by, in Anaheim, for those instances where they catch someone dumping their loved one’s cremains in the park. I guess they feel the $99 dollar ticket doesn’t cover adding a little ash to the garden. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/19 "2015-05-24T01:02:37Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Then they should do their best not to restrict these types of things, since free trade increases the overall standard of living and economic growth for both countries. I support free trade. I also support using immigration to protect domestic jobs for Americans. These positions are not mutually exclusive. > [@even\_sven](#): > > I’m not really convinced Disney is “ours”. Surely we don’t lay claim to, say Disneyland Paris or the quickly growing Disney Education sector in China? I’m not sure how you’d ever run a multinational if there was some kind of rule that you can only hire Americans. You have missed my point. We should use our immigration laws to protect domestic jobs for Americans. If they have overseas operations, I don’t see what we can do anyway. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645/20 "2015-05-24T02:05:11Z")
Capitalism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-disneys-replacing-american-workers-with-foreign/720645.md?page=2)