SeaWorld Entertainment, still grappling with declining revenue and profit, eliminated 320 jobs Tuesday throughout its 12 parks nationwide and Orlando corporate headquarters.
A company spokeswoman described the restructuring as a combination of layoffs and elimination of vacant positions. She did not provide a breakdown.
The positions make up about 3 percent of SeaWorld’s permanent workforce. The company also operates the Aquatica water parks and Busch Gardens theme parks.
This is the second major layoff that SeaWorld has undergone in two years. About 300 people lost their jobs in December 2014, at the same time chief executive officer Jim Atchison resigned.
SeaWorld said people losing their jobs Tuesday would receive “enhanced severance benefits” and outplacement assistance.
“These changes are being made to best position our company for long-term success, and so that we can continue to do great things for animals across the globe,” SeaWorld said in an emailed statement.
“We remain committed to a continued focus on the guest experience, the health and welfare of our animals, and the safety of our guests and team members. It is an unfortunate, but necessary, consequence of the restructuring that some positions will be lost.”
On Saturday, longtime animal ambassador Julie Scardina announced her retirement on social media. SeaWorld wouldn’t say whether that was part of the overall restructuring effort.
SeaWorld’s financial situation has not improved since the last major layoff. In March, the company said it would stop breeding orcas, an attempt to lessen the controversy its killer whale program has attracted. SeaWorld’s whales were the focus of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which suggested the stress of captivity caused an orca to kill an Orlando trainer in 2010.
The company’s attendance, revenue and profit have declined, with revenue falling to $485.3 million in the third quarter of 2016, compared with $496.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
More recently, SeaWorld has blamed that on a slowdown earlier this year in Orlando tourism, including a drop in Brazilian visitors. Competition from increasingly sophisticated attractions at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando also has hurt.
“I would have thought they would have recovered by now,” said Abe Pizam, dean of UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality management. “The industry’s doing pretty well as a whole. Certainly our destination is doing pretty well.”
After its last November earnings report, SeaWorld told analysts it would carry out cost-cutting measures providing $40 million in net savings by the end of 2018.
“When you run a business, you’ve got to act, and they are in dire straits right now,” said Scott Smith, an assistant hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina.
The company’s stock rose 0.5 percent to $18.21 Tuesday.
Faced with intense competition from Disney and Universal, SeaWorld has lately pursued strategies typical of modest regional theme parks, theme park experts said.
Next year, Disney’s Animal Kingdom will open an Avatar-themed land. Universal Orlando will open a new, highly themed water park.
SeaWorld Orlando, in contrast, will add virtual reality headsets to its Kraken roller coaster.
“I think they themselves admit they are no longer the same company, and they cater to a different market segment than they did in the past,” Pizam said.
Chief Executive Officer Joel Manby has found himself facing unhappy longtime fans and dissatisfied animal activists as he shifts SeaWorld’s emphasis from performing killer whales to conservation, education and more rides.
Some hardcore fans were dismayed by SeaWorld’s decision to stop breeding orcas, seeing it as a concession to animal welfare activists. Many activists, meanwhile, want the company to go further and send its orcas to seaside sanctuaries.
Tuesday’s layoff “is a victory for the PETA people and ‘Blackfish,'” Smith said. “I know they’re popping champagne corks right now across the United States, saying, ‘Our campaign was long and hard, but we won.'”
In fact, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has led a long campaign against SeaWorld, took advantage of Tuesday’s news to again call for a release of the orcas.
“SeaWorld is still in the same sinking boat that it was in two years ago when it jettisoned its CEO and 311 employees,” the release said.
spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240
