News: Cedar Point now hiring 6,500 seasonal associates

Cedar Point plans to hire approximately 6,500 seasonal associates as it prepares to open for the 2022 season. Seasonal associates will earn $15 per hour for most non-tipped positions.

https://pointbuzz.com/News/Story/3357

It will be interesting to see how the $15 wage plays out this year as compared to the well publicized $20 last year.

That is surprising. I don't know if you can put that back in the box.

That's gonna get people to want to work there, NOT. Last year they had trouble, this is just going to make it worse in my opinion. Hope I am wrong. Even though $15 per hour is a decent wage anymore and not only that the perks would be worth it to me.

Anybody heard anything one way or another about if they're able to get even a little bit of the international hiring back? Even if they're more limited on what countries they could recruit from, I feel like that would go a long way towards a lot of that.

It makes sense that they would at least try to dial back the wage. The labor environment might be different this year compared to last. And if not, they can bump it back up.

I made today's equivalent of $8.38 when I got my first job at 14. It's insane to me that people may be unwilling to work for nearly double what I was willing to work for.

If I’m someone who worked there last year for $20 an hour, I’m not exactly jumping at the chance to go back for $5 an hour less when there are dozens of local retailers that pay $15 an hour. Working at the park isn’t the most fun job and if I had to choose between the long hours and hot summers outdoors for $15/hr versus working in AC for normal shifts at $15/hr I’d say the answer is pretty obvious.

But given that an unnecessary restaurant is going up in Frontiertown I’m not really surprised that they went back on the $20/hr wage.

I know it's a very small sample size but on closing day last year I heard a worker talking about this to a (apparently) regular customer. Anyway, the customer asked whether they were still going to offer $20 next year to which the worker replied, "I don't know, but if they don't I'm surely not returning."

Again, I know it's only a sample size of one but I can't imagine anyone else having a different mindset. As Jeff said, I think they've backed themselves into a corner here. Time will tell.

The opinion of one person is not a sample. It is just a one person opinion.

Well obviously someone willing to do the job for $20 isn't going to be willing to do it for 25% less. But someone else will agree to do it at the lower rate. The question is whether the change in personnel is going to affect the customer experience to a degree that matters.

Perhaps if hiring lags at the flat $15.00 per hour they will offer a "bonus" incentive of some sort that will increase the compensation to $20.00. I don't know the exact formula but I know they have offered various incentives in the past. An example would be "stay on until June 30 with perfect attendance and receive a $1000.00 bonus" or something of that sort. Or, "stay all operating season and get a t-shirt".

I'd also be kind of curious to see a demographic map of where all they've been pulling the seasonal hires from, at least in the sense of how many are local-local vs how many are coming from further afield, whether greater Detroit, Cleveland, or wherever. It's been beaten to death here that CP doesn't have the immediate summer labor pool of someplace like Cincy and KI, but I had always been under the impression that the workaround for that was having the dorms and the infrastructure for all that, vs I'm not even sure if Kings Island has seasonal worker dorms. (I'm sure they do, but it's just my totally-scientific recollection that I don't recall KI ever really relying on international or otherwise long-distance seasonal hires to the degree that CP traditionally has.)

Thought I heard that returning employees (in good standing) would be brought back at their previous hourly wage (or a slight bump) and that the $15/hr would be for new hires.

I was around in the early days of the bonus and I was stunned by how many times employees left with a short time on their contract, despite the significant (sometimes) bonus that awaited them. In fact, I'm not sure anyone ever told me that they were quitting and changed their mind after I discussed that potential loss.

I'm still convinced that a better overall experience (housing, recreation, even educational opportunities) would move the needle more to get and keep seasonal staff. They have improved housing since my days, to be sure, but I still think that is low hanging fruit that would help make CP a more desirable place to work.

Purely anecdotal evidence here, but I heard in the rumor mill from friends that still work there that returning employees will still be making last year's $20/hr rate, while new hires will be at the new $15/hr rate. I very well could be wrong though.

Will be interesting to see if they bring up this issue on the earnings call tomorrow or if they do not, if analysts ask them about it. One clarifying if returning employers are still at $20/hour and the comfort level they have with going with $15/hour.

BlueGemini said:

That's gonna get people to want to work there, NOT.

To add to the anecdotal, a couple of my students who worked there alluded to the idea of getting rehired at $20, but that was awhile ago.

The game-changer will the international pipeline. I don't have a clue as to what the current guidelines are.

If it’s true that returning employees get $20 and new hires don’t that will create an even bigger problem for them. Good luck bringing in new employees who will work alongside other employees making $5 an hour more to do the same job just because they “came back this year”. I get that there is pay differences depending on tenure for almost any job out there but this is a seasonal amusement park. In my opinion you either keep the starting wage the same for everyone, or you’ll struggle to attract new talent.

I'm confused as to why you put "came back this year" in air quotes as if it means little. The fact that it is a seasonal park makes someone coming back something to be celebrated, and a higher pay grade for those returning provides an incentive for those working in year A to come back for year B, and maybe a C.

Doing the same job? I suppose, but also doing the same job requiring less training and now (ideally) serving in more of a mentorship role for the the newbies. I mean, god forbid there is a culture of loyalty and/or tenure. Isn't that something to be honored?

I would argue that not paying returning workers more (for doing the same job + more experience) would create more of a problem than the flip-side.

All that said, it remains to be seen whether or not it's true that returning workers are getting paid more. It sounds like a solid employee recruitment tool to me, but I have zero experience in HR for a seasonal amusement park, so I am largely talking out of my....

If Cedar Point truly has a culture of mentorship and fostering new leaders every season with the added bonus of tenure and loyalty then good for them. But the reality of the job market today says otherwise; meaning there’s not as much loyalty or tenure as there used to be. And I would also ask this: has the park previously paid it’s retuning employees $5 an hour more? Nope. So I don’t think it has anything to do with their work culture as much as it has to do with saving money on wages this season. I stand by my air quotes. This is a seasonal amusement park. The only thing they really care about is the bottom line.

^The two aren't mutually exclusive, though. Absolutely it's a mechanism that can save them a lot of money in overhead. But that doesn't mean it's not also an incentive for an employee to return for a second or third year, who would otherwise only work one season.