This is part brag, but part reality of where a kid or starting pesron can go money wise if they dont work at Disney and possibly get a bit of help living with their family to start.
Disney need start everyone at 18 today and maybe 20 by next year just to match whats going on everywhere else. 1 dollar per hour for most employees its a joke. Here is my real life story.
Kids today get so much money to start, even with inflation included, but Disney is not paying enough for what these people do. 1.00 an hour, 20 an hour 4 years from now? It's a joke , so when a CM is not the happiest person in that 95 degree heat, lets look at where they are coming from.
Both my kids were offered jobs at Disney, one as an intern, it was one job where they did NOT have to live in housing.. I was so excited.
I said okay you can live at the FL house she said dad I am turning down the Disney internship(I think this one is in Ca anyhow- so I think live with your brother then, so what). Anyhow she says maybe after my masters I'll go back to WDW and apply(again this job was not the DCP). It was an internship of some type, accounting I believe. Anyhow, I was let down. SO I ask her what the heck is wrong with you, take that job!
She pulls out paper work that was an internship offer from a Company called PWC, I thought what is that? Then I thought holy Crap that's Price Waterhouse! Look at the what they just offered me, I am going to sign this. offer. The offer was 32.60 an hour 6 month guaranteed paid internship, but Disney wants to give me less than 16 an hour, why would I do that? I Can't I argue with the kid and she can live at my home during that PWC internship, FREE! This PWC internship appears to be out of Chicago.
So my son gets accepted for DCP at WDW again says nope ! Dad I am staying at Walmart right here in IL. WDW wants me(requires me for DCP) to live in their housing even though our home in FL is walking distance from their new housing through the back forest, but they won't allow me to Live in our FL house. I need live there at their housing and it was like 240.00 I think he said for the better place. My numbers may be a bit off, CM here would know more.
I think he said anyhow they offered him 15.60, I cant remember exactly. Again CM here may know more. I thought that sounded good.. He said after that living expense I would hardly have anything left. I thought yes, but the experience. You can meet people have fun, he said dad it is about the money. I want to buy a house. These two kids are twins by the way. He has worked at night shift at Walmart for 7 months(started at 18.20 an hour, now I think make Just under 20 an hour because he got past a certain point in time with them). He has also worked 3 hours a day at the school for the last year of his sophomore year of college. He only wanted to do 2 year college, that's is his choice.
I say how much could you really save anyhow son, does it have to be about the money. He says living with you and saving with no car like all my friends have, I saved A LOT. Mind you the kid has worked 7 months full time in his entire LIFE other than at the school library job making min wage a few hours a day for that year. He pulls out his bank account on his phone and the balance was 18,600.00! He is 20 years old. I check his credit score on a whim, the kid has 4 credit cards already with 2% balance carried over all his credit cards, he has a 746 FICO 8 score! Hell I was 40 years old until I had that! Can a starting DCP WDW employee do that, no way in heck!
Well his twin sister pulls out her two accounts. I am thinking she is a spender(she has worked for 2.5 years though, not 7 months )I am thinking no way she can have much money saved. She says got you beat bro, one checking and one saving total balance 22,300.00! She goes to school full time At Northern IlL Univ drives 70 minutes each way in a 2006 Grand Caravan 3 days a week (she doesn't need show off) and live with us to save on housing. I have paid ZERO for her schooling, she pays it all. Last week she visited us here in FL I ask her what she is doing on her computer, she was in the middle of filling out 64 scholarships, I thought 64, she was nuts! I have 6 kids she is the only one that put in the effort so we parents so far have not had to pay anything for her schooling. Anyhow, she Works at Menards full time and an accounting firm part time and I can't remember that 3rd job she just quit that. She just gave notice to Menards to focus on school more and go full time at the accounting firm. This local accounting firm pays her school bill her scholarships might not cover dollar for dollar up to 6 grand. They also match her 401k, again these kids are 20. Disney? Now sure what they offer like this.
SO tell me is Disney going to match what these kids are getting paid right out of high school or even college today? WDW has to start paying at least 18.00 starting, like today maybe even more, 20.00 a hour. WDW making 6 billion to 23 billion a year is great, but it might be fine making a few billion less paying people more so every CM is happy instead of 30% of them now having a look on their face like they are about to drop dead, especially in the summer.
I do think starting jobs are just that, starting jobs and schooling, work ethic and how well a person performs at work matters most, but the larger companies like WDW where one guy gets 10 million dollar golden parachutes and the like just have to start the BEGINNING wages higher and have better insurance for these starting worker. After that then it should be on on each employee to move up or not.
My first job 3.35 an hour, I remember getting up to 4.25, I still had to have two roommate even back then, so I am not advocating everyone off the street get paid enough to buy a new car and home right off, we need work to that, but WDW does seem to underpay adn under appreciate a good portion of their workforce.
