From what I’ve read (can’t find the link), this ~$1B project is less that 10% of Disney’s ongoing development projects. So it’s a demitasse cup in the 5 gallon bucket of Disney growth in Florida.
As for forced transfer, the people whose jobs would have been moved would have been given months or over a year to make the choice and take the requisite actions to either move or find other employment. It’s not a pleasant choice, BTDTGTTS.
My company gave us 17 months notice. After a month to get organized that included a long planned trans-Atlantic cruise (35th anniversary, not something we do regularly), it took me another 3 months to find another job (it’s like a Karen-employer ritual-statement, but my new job is better). There are lots of tech companies in Silicon Valley. Similarly, there probably are lots of entertainment companies in the LA area.
I wonder whether this decision by Disney will come to bite them. Housing costs in the Land of LA aren’t as high as in Silicon Valley, but I suspect they are high enough (and commute traffic/times awful enough) that Disney is already finding difficulty recruiting new talent out of universities. That recruiting problem was the reason my former employer shut down the division for which I worked. Telling prospects that they would have to live 2 hours’ drive from work and probably would never be able to afford a home in Silicon Valley is not a compelling recruitment message. The same is true for Disney and Land of LA housing costs.