BTW made a major typo saying "I don't like empathy for them", it was supposed to say "I don't lack empathy for them". Completely different meanings in this case.
@SuddenStorm I broadly agree with your points. However, I do have thoughts on a few of them:
To be honest, this is not a Disney problem, this is basically an industry-wide problem. Universal is the exception here, and clearly it has paid dividends for them. They are to be commended for their handling of everything thrown at them in 2020. But go to pretty much anywhere that
isn't a Universal park and it's the same situation as Disney-or, as is often the case, worse.
Obviously I would prefer that we were still in the days of free, paper FP, but the industry has basically abandoned free line-skipping systems. I would prefer we went back to free FP, but that's probably not going to happen. If that's not going to change, than we need to look at what will make G+ more functional, which relates to pricing. The big miss with Disney's strategy is that they have decided to try and price it low enough so that everyone buys it, which causes all sorts of issues. If they're going to keep upcharge FP, they need to
dramatically raise the prices-a la every other park-so that it is cost-prohibitive for most guests, which would allow the standby queues to actually move clower to how they're supposed to and get more guests off of midways. They
do need to fix Genie, and sooner rather than later. I just don't imagine there's a universe where they don't accomplish that without pricing most people out.
Again, this is an industry wide issue and Disney is not the only one doing this. As said, Universal is doing this, but so too are Six Flags and Cedar Fair. Food prices are up and quality is down industry-wide. That said, I actually have to commend Disneyland's food service right now. It is comparably priced to other parks and considerably
better quality with more interesting options than pretty much any other park (or set of parks) than I can think of.
Disney has been doing this since at least 2018 with understaffing their food service registers, possibly sooner.
Six Flags and Cedar Fair are much cheaper and lower standards than Disneyland.
I know we spoke about it before but Dollywood is wonderful and was a properly ran and maintained park with none of the labor cutbacks you get at Disney. We can't say all the competition does it.
People like to assume that theme park jobs are all for unskilled high schoolers, but 1) that primarily applied to smaller scale theme parks that were largely open summer or weekends only, and 2) even those parks don't have all that many high schoolers working there anymore. Kids are being pushed to think about how every single summer activity might make them stand out to a college or future career, and unfortunately, working at a theme park is not seen as something that will help them to do that. Most of the seasonal parks near me have shifted many of their employees to either adults or international workers.
But parks that are open year round (especially in the way Disney parks are operated) cannot run primarily on high schoolers or college students. The parks have to run when kids are in school, so this long-enduring stereotype that it's all high schoolers is not and has never been true (same for fast food workers-someone has to run the restaurant when the kids are at school, y'know?). If the parks are going to have enough staffing, and good staffing, it needs to be adults, and generally speaking, if adults are compensated well and treated well by guests and their employer, it's going to result in better service. So you can say you don't have empathy for them, but that's not going to result in a better experience for you or anyone else. You should want them to be well compensated, because service will be better if they are.
Good point about them being a 365 days park so needing more than high school students.
Yes I agree the guest experience would be much better for anything when employees are happy and paid well.
It's amazing how many don't get this. There are only so many high tech, high paying jobs out there,
Same goes for any job category. There's also only so many themepark and minimum wage jobs. Even in the field I'm in I choose to intern for 10 dollars an hour for 6 months pre graduation to get work experience before doing lots of interviews.
and even people who did what their parents told them and got a college degree are often struggling to make ends meet in today's world
It really depends on the degree and line of work but yes cost of living post covid has been crazy.
Many respectable, living class jobs (ex.: nursing, teaching, among others) don't pay the bills quite as effectively as they once did, and now many face far more debt than their predecessors would have. For a long, LONG time, most job growth has been in the service industry while other once reliable/profitable jobs or industries continue to contract or disappear.
My wife and I have good incomes yet some months feel like we barely scrap by if a large expense comes up. Even housing prices and living expenses in the last 4 years alone make things more difficult for everyone.
However I can absolutely guarantee you something with a STEM college degree and a career in their field (even if it takes time to move up) will likely struggle much less than a frontline themepark employee being stagnant for 8 years.
Saying someone's going to be failing anyways isn't a good argument for someone being worse off financially. People need to do what they can do empower themselves with skills that can better their financial situation.
My wife got her degree online while working full time. Online schooling makes it possible and Disney even pays for college tuition.
You can't just dismiss an entire complex of employees with "eh, you don't deserve to make a livable wage because some 18 year old can do it" if those are some of the only ways that people can get work.
I'm not saying what they do or don't deserve, just talking about reality of what they earn. If themepark workers made 6 figures I'd be saying it's a great career option. But as it stands it is a low paying job and that is not likely to change, even with a few dollar bumps every 5 years.
People are weirdly preoccupied with whether or not strangers are employed, but when people actually go out and get a job, then many of those same "get a job" people will just look for an excuse to look down on those workers so that they can deny them a living wage.
I don't look down on people for what they do. I look down on someone making poor choices though and complaining about it like the world is the problem. I respect any workers for any industry and it's not my business what they make.
But if you go complaining to the LA times that scooping ice cream at Main Street for 10 years isn't helping you make ends meet, there is an element there of "why aren't you doing something to better your situation". Are they expecting one day this job will pay their bills? They are in a losing battle and the help those people need is
1) Encouragement to improve their skills/education to land better paying jobs (again Disney pays college tuition)
2) Their employee to announce suddenly they are going to pay all minimum wage employees 2-3x more money
The idea of 2 is nice but 1 is real and achievable today. Employees should look out for themselves and not wait around for the company to do it. I've left numerous jobs due to improper compensation and lack of upward movement potential.
If the only job around and that will take them is service work, even if people have the education and credentials to do "more respectable work" on paper, than what are those people supposed to do?
With the exception of mental and physical disabilities, anyone can do anything.
If someone has the credentials and education to do better but are stuck as Universal CM then they better get on moving elsewhere.
I think one issue with degrees is people forget to get work experience prior and just expect to go from college degree to full time worker. Doing an internship is essential and I'm glad I did it despite people around me saying I was crazy for doing my internship (2 hour commute each way, 10 dollars an hour).
I also want to add that I have people in my family and circle of friends who work minimum wage jobs at retail or fastfood that are in their 30s and are capable of so much more. There is nothing limiting these people besides themselves. Now they are all having issues with finances but had ample opportunity and free time to do more. With these people that I personally know a lot of it does come down to laziness or being scared to try something new.
I don't look down on these people but I do feel like they are making poor choices and I'd say the same applies to anyone in the themepark sector who is sticking around year after year.
I'm not saying the world is fair and that the way things work are right or wrong. A lot is stacked against people as it stands with today's cost of living and job market and it isn't easy. But doing something for yourself is the only way to help yourself, the fastfood/retail/themepark companies aren't looking out for their staff and likely never will.
People need to do whatever they can to put themselves in the best financial position possible.
