People gather ahead of the "Festival of Fantasy" parade at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida, U.S. July 30, 2022. REUTERS/Octavio Jonesis scrapping plans to relocate 2,000 jobs to Florida in part because of "changing business conditions" in the state, according to an e-mail to employees seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The original decision to relocate employees to Florida from California had prompted complaints from many employees who did not want to move across the country. Disney and DeSantis have been locked in an increasingly acrimonious battle that 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.
A week ago, Disney CEO Bob Iger, in a call with investors about quarterly results, noted that the company employed more than 75,000 people in Florida, attracts millions of visitors each year to Disney World, and had plans to invest $17 billion to expand the resort over the next decade.