UPDATE: We received the following statement from a Disney spokesperson:
Over the past 5 years, The Walt Disney Company has added more than 18,000 jobs in the U.S. Approximately a year and a half ago, we reorganized our Parks and Resorts IT department, taking it from a team that focused primarily on maintaining our existing systems, to one that is more focused on developing new capabilities. A focus on innovation is critical given the constant evolution of technology.
Approximately 250 people were affected by the reorganization, and we were able to hire back more than 100 of them in other positions with Disney. In addition, since the reorganization, we have hired more than 140 other US IT workers into technical roles within the Parks technology team, and we are currently recruiting candidates to fill more than 100 IT positions. The Parks US IT team will ultimately be larger than it was prior to the reorganization.
As we mentioned in the original story, Marco Rubio was obviously incorrect in stating that Disney replaced the entire IT department at Disney. There are far more than 250 individuals working in IT at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Original Story: At today’s GOP Presidential Debate in Coral Gables, Florida, Marco Rubio was questioned about Disney replacing IT Cast Members with foreign workers using H-1B visas.
At the debate hosted by CNN, Salem Radio, and The Washington Times, Stephen Dinan asked about Disney laying off 250 IT workers and replacing them with foreign workers using H-1B visas. Rubio — one of Florida’s two Senators — wants to increase the H-1B visa program for foreign workers and was asked if the program takes jobs away from Americans.
Rubio responded that Disney abused the program and that it is now illegal for companies to use it to replace foreign workers and that they have to show that they tried to hire american workers. He also said that companies that abuse the program should be prevented from using it again.
Rubio went on to say that many times the companies are not hiring foreign workers directly and that they are using third party consulting companies like Disney did. He went on to say that he does not believe that a consulting company, like Tata in India, should not be able to hoard those visas and that the visas should only be available to companies that hire directly.
He also reiterated that using the program to replace American workers is not alloweed and that if a company, like Disney, is caught violating the program they should be barred from using it in the future.
After a follow-up, Rubio said that Disney laid off the entire tech division and arguing that they did not replace the laidoff worker, but that they replaced the whole unit with the services of an outsourced company that is bringing the foreign workers in. Rubio said that this is a loophole that they need to close. Of course, Disney did not replace their entire IT team which would be much more than 250 people.
Later on, Donald Trump mentioned that the laid off “Disney workers” endorsed him. Trump says that the former Cast Members said that he is the only one who is going to be able to fix it.