The Walt Disney Co. will give more than 125,000 eligible employees a one-time $1,000 cash bonus and invest $50 million in an education funding program.
The media company said Tuesday the bonuses will go to all full and part-time non-executive employees, either hourly or salaried, who have been with the company since January 1, 2018, and are based in the U.S.
‘We are directing approximately $125 million to our cast members and employees across the country and making higher education more accessible with the launch of this new program,’ CEO Bob Iger said in a statement, according to CNBC.
The Walt Disney Co. will give more than 125,000 eligible employees a one-time $1,000 cash bonus and invest $50 million in an education funding program
Executives are exempt from the bonus.
Nearly 88,000 hourly employees will be eligible for the education program which will cover tuition costs.
‘Participants can pursue qualifying higher education or vocational training, including courses unrelated to their current responsibilities at Disney,’ the company said.
‘We are directing approximately $125 million to our cast members and employees across the country and making higher education more accessible with the launch of this new program,’ CEO Bob Iger said in a statement
Along with the initial $50 million investment, the Burbank, California company will provide up to $25 million annually for the program.
Disney has said that both of these initiatives are due to Trump’s recent tax reform.
The plans will cost about $175 million in the current fiscal year.
The company joins other corporations such as AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing and Walmart who offered their employees large bonuses after the tax reform bill passed.
However, health care giant Johnson & Johnson posted a rare quarterly loss, a whopping $10.71billion, due to a $13.6billion charge related to last month’s US tax overhaul.
Disney has said that both of these initiatives are due to Trump’s recent tax reform. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the bill is designed mostly to help corporations and the wealthy
AT&T notified an estimated 600 workers that they were being laid off just a week before the company announced it would hand out $1,000 in bonuses to its employees.
The GOP tax cuts are more unpopular than even previous tax hikes. A Quinnipiac University poll found that just 25 percent of voters viewed the plan favorably.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the bill is designed mostly to help corporations and the wealthy, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.