Disney Labor Shortage

[Lilofan]

Hey, for me anywhere 1/2 an hour's drive away from WDW is better than driving from Dallas. I plan to spend a week or more checking things out for myself before moving.

Great plan, good luck to you. Talk to the locals, to give you the inside scoop. In parts of Kissimmee and parts of Orlando there is quite a bit of drag racing by kids on the straightaway roads especially at night - FYI.

 

[Willmark]

Why not just raise the minimum wage for cast members? Clearly $15 an hour isn’t enough. Should be $25-35 an hour at least.

 

[John park hopper]

People are still flocking to WDW even with staffing problems so were is the incentive for Disney #1 pay higher wages #2 hire more staff

 

[Lilofan]

Why not just raise the minimum wage for cast members? Clearly $15 an hour isn’t enough. Should be $25-35 an hour at least.

The Yeti will be fixed at AK before that starting wage would ever happen.

 

[Willmark]

The Yeti will be fixed at AK before that starting wage would ever happen.

Not my point. Surely $25 an hour is better than $15.

 

[Lilofan]

Not my point. Surely $25 an hour is better than $15.

Your point will increase labor costs which will be passed onto the consumer in terms of even more higher pricing.

 

[lazyboy97o]

People are still flocking to WDW even with staffing problems so were is the incentive for Disney #1 pay higher wages #2 hire more staff

Overtime would be one. Lost revenue due to reduced capacity would be another.

 

[SteveAZee]

Your point will increase labor costs which will be passed onto the consumer in terms of even more higher pricing.

It does make me wonder how many people-hours a day it takes to keep the whole resort running normally.

 

[Lilofan]

It does make me wonder how many people-hours a day it takes to keep the whole resort running normally.

I read somewhere that in TWDC annual operating report of 2019 it costs the company $14B to operate all parks and resorts and that included salaries. No word on how many cast involved.

 

[Willmark]

Your point will increase labor costs which will be passed onto the consumer in terms of even more higher pricing.

Then obviously we need to print more money

 

[MisterPenguin]

Then obviously we need to print more money

 

[Lilofan]

View attachment 597142

Whatever the issue... " we're in the money !!!!" - Dow and Nasdaq markets are at all time high...

 

[Willmark]

View attachment 597142

Let me know how that works out.

 

[mkt]

People are still flocking to WDW even with staffing problems so were is the incentive for Disney #1 pay higher wages #2 hire more staff

Attract good candidates, retain CM's, something about public relations?

Turnover at WDW is horrible even at the best times, and criticism of their wages are pretty universal (no pun intended) across Orlando. Not to mention that for a while, Disney was known as the employer that would hire anyone with a pulse (also no pun intended) in Orlando.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I keep hearing that theory but many higher paying blue collar industries also have a labor shortage. I guess with several states ending the bonus unemployment benefits this week we will know soon enough if that was really the problem or if the problem is a mix of older and international workers leaving the market permanently leaving a massive mismatch of the skill sets/pay expectations of the currently unemployed and the jobs available.

I wonder if what has happened is during the height of the pandemic when people either couldn't work or worked from home, being there for your kids and not spending as much money on other things, parents realized it was good to have at least one parent home, and financially doable. If that is the mentality it will cut down on a sizeable amount of the workforce

 

[Weather_Lady]

I wonder if what has happened is during the height of the pandemic when people either couldn't work or worked from home, being there for your kids and not spending as much money on other things, parents realized it was good to have at least one parent home, and financially doable. If that is the mentality it will cut down on a sizeable amount of the workforce

I think that's part of it for sure, and I know a couple of families who restructured their budgets to accommodate that. (I know I considered it myself, once I realized how little we could truly "get by on.") I think boomers who were nudged by COVID-related health concerns into retirement (or who were out-and-out killed by COVID, as three nearing-retirement-age workers I knew were), is another part.

Also - again, speaking anecdotally - a number of 20-somethings I know who were formerly working multiple, less-desirable jobs in service industries to stay afloat, were able to move into full-time, more traditional jobs, to take the place of others who were retiring - some with credentials and certifications they earned online while homebound during the pandemic. Now there are way fewer people to take those service industry jobs, and because those jobs are highly visible, everybody feels their absence. I think it creates a false perception that people are sitting at home and "don't want to work," when in reality, the people who used to have those jobs have just moved on to better ones. In fact, the current unemployment rate in the U.S. is currently the lowest it's been since before the pandemic.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why not just raise the minimum wage for cast members? Clearly $15 an hour isn’t enough. Should be $25-35 an hour at least.

You want entry-level fry cooks making $50,000 a year?

 

[eliza61nyc]

Attract good candidates, retain CM's, something about public relations?

Turnover at WDW is horrible even at the best times, and criticism of their wages are pretty universal (no pun intended) across Orlando. Not to mention that for a while, Disney was known as the employer that would hire anyone with a pulse (also no pun intended) in Orlando.

Could it be that the entire tourism industry sucks in the wage department. It's been a minute since I was a youngin but I remember when I worked in the service industry pay was notoriously bad

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Attract good candidates, retain CM's, something about public relations?

Turnover at WDW is horrible even at the best times, and criticism of their wages are pretty universal (no pun intended) across Orlando. Not to mention that for a while, Disney was known as the employer that would hire anyone with a pulse (also no pun intended) in Orlando.

Could it be that the entire tourism industry sucks in the wage department. It's been a minute since I was a youngin but I remember when I worked in the service industry pay was notoriously bad

Turnover in frontline service positions is a feature, not a bug. "Ride operator at Space Mountain" isn't a career and it's not meant to be.

 

[eliza61nyc]

You want entry-level fry cooks making $50,000 a year?

Turnover in frontline service positions is a feature, not a bug. "Ride operator at Space Mountain" isn't a career and it's not meant to be.

Lol I've said many times Cap that the number one incentive for me to finish school was a stint working Christmas as a holiday Elf at the 34th Street Macy's. Sweet baby Jesus.

Then the next problem becomes the trickle down effect. If a fry guy makes 50k, now what do we pay the manager's? Because they darn sure aren't going to keep quite