Walt Disney disclosed on Tuesday that it planned to disengage 28,000 workers in its parks division in California and Florida due to the COVID-19 restrictions limiting attendance at its theme park.

Disney officials said that two-thirds of the planned layoffs will affect the part-time workers ranging from employees placed on wages and salaries.

Disney’s parks had closed last spring when the pandemic began to spread in the US. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks is yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California.

The Chairman of Disney Parks, Experience and Product, Josh D’Amaro in a letter to employees, said California’s “unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen” exacerbated the situation for the company.

D’Amaro made it known that his management team had worked hard to try to avoid layoffs as they had cut expenses, suspended projects and modified operations but it wasn’t enough due to the given limits on the number of people allowed into the park because of social distancing restrictions and other pandemic-related measures,

His words: “As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic.”

California’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr Mark Ghaly on Tuesday stated the state was close to working out a way to have the theme parks reopen in a responsible way.

“We know that a number of Californians are eager and wondering when that is coming, and we’re working with those industries to put out something that’s thoughtful, allows us to maintain the rest of our framework in a strong way, and really following those principles of slow and stringent to ensure those large activities are done responsibly,” said the secretary of California Health and Human Services.

However, Disney officials assured that the company would provide severance packages for the employees, where suitable, and will offer other services to help workers with job placement.