Disney is moving 2,000 jobs from California to Florida.
The entertainment conglomerate is the latest large business to move operations out of a left-leaning state. The Daily Wire recently reported that Wall Street executives are swamping recruiters’ offices with requests for transfers from New York to Florida. Leading firms — such as Goldman Sachs — are weighing the possibility of new offices in the Sunshine State.
Disney’s announcement comes as Los Angeles — the home of Disneyland — announced that it is reinstituting an indoor mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents.
Fox Business reported:
Disney will move about 2,000 jobs from its California headquarters to a new campus in Florida, according to Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Most of the jobs being moved are professional roles in Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products division, other than those tied to Disneyland in California, D’Amaro told employees in a letter provided to FOX Business Thursday.
“This new project will create a dynamic environment to support our expanding business — a brand-new regional campus which will be built in the vibrant Lake Nona community of Orlando, Florida,” D’Amaro told staff. “In addition to Florida’s business-friendly climate, this new regional campus gives us the opportunity to consolidate our teams and be more collaborative and impactful both from a creative and operational standpoint.”
As the United States rebounds from COVID-19 and the lockdown-induced recession, Democrat-run states are lagging Republican-run states in economic growth. California presently ranks forty-fifth among states’ returns to economic normalcy. New York ranks fiftieth.
California is facing a series of worrying trends that are driving away residents.
For one, housing prices in California are among the highest in the United States. As California State Controller Betty Yee wrote in a recent report: “The single biggest factor driving migration decisions is the cost of real estate. The average home price in California is more than double the U.S. average. The high cost of housing in California makes it more difficult for current California renters to strengthen their ties to California by purchasing homes, makes it harder for potential in-migrants to move here, and encourages current homeowners to extract value from their homes by moving to less expensive states.”
For another, California’s crime rate skyrocketed in 2020. State Attorney General Rob Bonta noted that California’s homicide rate rose by 31%, while the aggravated assault rate rose by 8.8%. The number of law enforcement officers assaulted with a firearm increased by 30.2%, and the number assaulted with other dangerous weapons increased by 60.8%.
Piling upon inflating housing prices and crime rates — as well as homelessness, high taxes, and an unreliable energy system — residents and businesses grew particularly disgruntled with California’s response to COVID-19.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) led California through one of the most aggressive lockdowns in the United States. In addition to shutdown policies levied against small businesses, officials pressed harsh restrictions on places of worship — such as Grace Community Church, led by John MacArthur.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was among the first governors to roll back COVID-19 restrictions, stating that “we will never do any of these lockdowns again, and I hear people say they’ll shut down the country, and honestly, I cringe.”
During a recent interview with Sean Hannity, DeSantis slammed California’s COVID-19 restrictions and touted Florida’s strategy of rapid reopening.
“And I can’t tell you, Sean, every time I go out, someone will come up to me and say thank you for keeping us open, you saved my job, or you saved my business,” DeSantis told the anchor. “And we know if we were in other states like California and New York, I know my job would be gone or I know my business would be gone. So we’re proud of the success that we’ve had.