Guests cheer as dolphins jump in unison Tuesday during the Blue Horizon show featuring dolphins, birds and acrobats at SeaWorld Orlando. The Blackstone Group, a private-equity firm, reached a deal to buy Busch Entertainment Corp., including all of its SeaWorld theme parks, from Anheuser-Busch InBev. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel / October 6, 2009)


SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment said Thursday it is laying off approximately 350 employees, including 129 in Orlando, where the company has its corporate headquarters and three theme parks.

SeaWorld, which operates 10 theme or water parks in five states, said the job cuts amount to less than 2 percent of its total work force, which peaks at about 20,000 people during the summer. The company employs approximately 5,200 workers in Orlando.

SeaWorld said the cuts include both salaried and hourly positions. The company said employees losing their jobs will receive severance, though it would not provide details about the packages.

It said all affected employees were being notified this week. The layoffs are effective immediately.

"This restructuring will allow us to operate more efficiently and better position us for long-term growth and independence," SeaWorld Parks President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Atchison said in a prepared statement. "Our primary goal is to eliminate some of the duplication of responsibility that affects performance, innovation and our ability to execute quickly."

"It is an unfortunate, but necessary, consequence of a restructuring of this sort that positions will be lost," Atchison added.

The layoffs come at the close of a difficult year for SeaWorld, where attendance, sales and profits have slumped amid a soft economy, a dearth of new attractions, and negative publicity stemming from the Feb. 24 death of a SeaWorld Orlando killer-whale trainer. The struggles have been most acute at the company's namesake marine parks.

SeaWorld's annual revenue is estimated to have shrunk from $1.4 billion a year ago to $1.2 billion this year.

The bulk of the job losses will be concentrated in SeaWorld's three largest markets: Orlando, Tampa and San Diego.

In Orlando, SeaWorld will shed five jobs at its corporate headquarters and 124 between its three parks — SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove and Aquatica. The company will eliminate 125 jobs in Tampa, where it operates Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island, and 80 jobs at SeaWorld San Diego.

The cuts come a day after the first anniversary of SeaWorld's acquisition by the private-equity firm Blackstone Group, which purchased the company from beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev. Blackstone paid $2.3 billion for the former Busch Entertainment Corp., though the price could still rise to $2.7 billion depending on SeaWorld's future financial performance.

"On Dec. 1, 2009, we separated from Anheuser-Busch InBev and began the complex and challenging process of remaking ourselves as an independent company. Restructuring our operation is part of that process," Atchison said.

SeaWorld's 10 parks drew an estimated 23.5 million visitors in 2009, according to industry estimates, making it the second-busiest theme-park operator in the U.S. behind the Walt Disney Co. In addition to its Florida and California parks, SeaWorld owns SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas; Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Va.; and Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa.

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It's in these cases that we really understand that the recession is not completely over yet. But, don't worry. The company will be spending a lot of money in new attractions in the next few years (Cheetah hunt at BGT, a new drop tower at BGW, A new killer whale show at SeaWorld Orlando, a new turtle exhibit at SeqaWorld San Diego and more), and if their profit rises, they may put back all the jobs that have been cut, and maybe add even more...
We're really sorry for all the people that lost their job. I think most of them will opt for Universal Orlando now, since they're hiring a lot of people right now.