Understaffing at Cedar Point hits nightmarish levels...

One of my favorite topics. I'm going to leave these here, if anyone is looking for something to read.

The Timelessness of Millennial-Bashing

I Went Looking For "The Good Ol' Days." It Took Me Back 5,000 Years.

Somewhat related, here are some silly things that once kept people up at night. I imagine someday, the iPhone and Social Media might make this list.

On this topic, the Pessimists Archive is a wonderful podcast. The topics below have all been episodes. Highly recommended.

The Walkman (1981)
"You've already seen the symptoms: the straight-ahead stare; the Mona Lisa smile crossing faintly moving lips; the rhythmic fait usually reserved for dance floors, and a voracious appetite for fresh batteries ... Some critics predict personal stereos - when there are enough of them in circulation - will kill the art of conversation."

American Life is Too Fast (1923)
"It is the day of the fleeting vision. Concentration, thoroughness, the quiet reflection that ripens judgement are more difficult than ever."

Recorded Music (1906)
"When a mother can turn on the phonograph with the same ease that she applies to the electric light, will she croon her baby to slumber with sweet lullabys, or will the infant be put to sleep by machinery?"

The Automobile (1904)
"The brain specialist predicted that the future high-speed automobilist will have an elongated brain as compared with the normal brain."

Chess (1895)
"Those who are engaged in mental pursuits should avoid a chess-board as they would an adder's nest, because chess misdirects and exhausts their intellectual energies."

The Umbrella (1750)
"People were outraged. Some bystanders hooted and jeered at Hanway as he passed; others simply stared in shock. Who was this strange man who seemed not to care that he was committing a social sin?"

coasterbillM said:
There are tons of amazing employees at Cedar Point, almost all of whom would be considered millennials.

Sure are, problem is there are not enough Millennials who are like that, that is why it is hard to find workers. Call it Millennial Bashing if you want, but I see it working at a University. Overall, the Millennial generation needs more care and pampering, is quick to complain if something is hard and is generally less capable to handle adversity. Of course it is how they were brought up, and present social norms play into their behavior. It is what it is but CP probably has the cream of the crop and it is hard to find more.

I hate to bash any group knowing people are not always the same but my husband has been seeing the same problem filling positions and keeping employees where he works. It's hard work and many people are simply not cut out for it just because of the nature of the work but he said it seems like they are encountering far fewer prospects that can hack it and choose to stay any length of time like they used to.They've reconfigured the pay scale to try to combat this. It's too soon to tell if that is going to help. I sure hope it does because it would be less stressful on him to have a full staff and it would be nice to know he didn't take a cut in pay for nothing.

Walt said:

I Went Looking For "The Good Ol' Days." It Took Me Back 5,000 Years.

Technology designed to improved productivity will also increase laziness. I know this because I am lazy; so I look for the most efficient ways to be productive while exerting the least amount of effort.

Working smarter doesn't mean working less ... unless you want it to.

Pete said:

Sure are, problem is there are not enough Millennials who are like that, that is why it is hard to find workers.

Okay, but I still fail to see how this is a Millennial issue. Where are the Gen Xers? Sandusky is pretty much the heart of the American rust-belt, unemployment in north central Ohio is well above the national average and Gen Xers are constantly complaining about how hard it is to find work and make ends meet. Where are they?

There's a theme park in the heart of the rust-belt BEGGING for employees with virtually no qualifications necessary aside from a strong work ethic and I don't see them rushing to the park for these low wage seasonal temp jobs either. You can't tell me there aren't enough unemployed Gen Xers in Sandusky and the surrounding area (an area where the unemployment rate is almost a full 2% above than the national average where they constantly talk about the need for jobs) to staff Power Tower, a few food stands, the other half of Gemini and Sky Ride for two months.

A lot of Gen Xers clearly think they're too good for these jobs too. I feel it's pretty hypocritical for them to single out millennials for having the same attitude they do.

Fine, include GEN Xers, but I think you made my point. In an area of high unemployment it is hard to find workers. It has to do with work ethic and today's culture.

That I agree with, my gripe is with the people using this as an opportunity to bash millennials when I see no difference between them and anyone else. Nobody wants these jobs. It blows my mind that they can't staff this park in an area with such a high unemployment rate where the open jobs are mostly all entry level positions. People in general are lazy, I just feel like a lot of the people bashing people for being lazy (not necessarily on this site, just in general) are just as lazy as they are. There's no rule that says you have to be a millennial to work at Cedar Point. Nobody's applying.

Sitting up here at the boat and have seen Dragster testing this afternoon. This kind of shoots down the theory Cedar Point doing everything it can to cut staffing costs to save money. They could have easily left it down for the remainder of the season.

Glad Dragster is testing, I hope it makes it open for the weekend. I’m also glad you guys are getting a nice weather extended boating season to enjoy the marina and your crafts. :)

I don’t recall a single post here stating that CP is doing everything they can to cut staffing costs to save money, either explicit or implied.

The general consensus being they haven’t done everything they can to attract staffing. Whether that saves them money or not is not the same as them cutting staffing.

Just observing, after cedar points comment on here, no one was talking about the park crowd anymore. It worked.

Time to find out will this Friday be as crowded as the last one.

I hope not but I'm preparing myself for the disappointment if it is. I'm going anyway. If traffic is backed up horribly on the chausee when I get there I may choose to ditch instead and plot a plan B for my evening but I'm going to try. Two weekends left and options are limited at this point. I'm going to take the risk.

Man, I just don't get the gripe against millennials though.

I mean no offense, but I wouldn't blame millennials for their work ethic, or being lazy. A person is mostly composed of their upbringing. Sure certain elements & traits are from their environment & peers, but part of that is def. the parent's fault too. You can't blame one generation without blaming the other.

Big picture is we're all in it together. I've met some lazy kids, I've met lazy peers, and I've met lazy elders. People suck all over, it's not just one group.

Sure a millennial may get stressed and it seems weird to need a dog, I'll agree with that. However at the same time Young adults of previous generations brought on hysterical items like the red scare, or a personal favorite in this argument; hippies. That's probably the laziest group of individuals in recent society -- and it's not a millennial.

Just stop blaming people, if you don't like it, try to see their side, or find a way to resolve the problem. This is basic textbook conflict resolution...Something that EVERY generation mainly seems to fail at constantly.

I'm not seeing where unemployment is Erie County is dramatically high. At 5.6%, it's only 0.6% above the state average and only 1.2% above the national average. And it wasn't that long ago when the number were much higher.

August 2017 - 5.6%
August 2016 - 4.8%
August 2015 - 4.2%
August 2014 - 5.6%
August 2013 - 7.0%
August 2012 - 6.7%
August 2011 - 8.4%
August 2010 - 9.4%
August 2009 - 9.8%

There's nothing here that would allow you to draw conclusions of an unwilling workforce. Besides, trying to draw a direct correlation between unemployment and staffing levels leaves out a number of important factors.

Casual Observation on CP Wages

2003 - OH Min Wage= $5.15 (Actually Federal). CP Base Wage =$6.25 + $1 Hr bonus. $7.25 Effective. $2.10 Above Minimum or 40% More then Minimum Wage.

2017 - OH Min Wage= $8.15. CP Wage= 8.95 No Bonus (per Redwolf). 80 Cents above Minimum and 10% More than Minimum Wage.

Probably not as simple as a dramatic across the board hike since seasonal wages are the parks largest expense (larger than most coasters for that matter). A $1 Increase would mean multi-millions in increased expenses.

Our International friends are willing to work for that much in the summer, so staffing not as much as an issue then. A wage premium in Spring and Fall might be in order (which sounds like they are trying!)

Minimum wage is growing faster than net revenue, which makes it difficult for low-wage employers to offer competitive wages.

I was a supervisor at a Loews Cineplex when minimum wage jumped more than 30% back in 2006 (I think) and we went from starting at $0.50 over with three possible raises in the first 90 days, to starting people at minimum wage. Experienced employees suddenly saw themselves at the bottom because the bottom end wages were dictated with a severe increase.

I've been looking at our payroll spending at my current job trying to find ways to offer monetary incentives to the better employees. At this point they are getting de facto raises from the government, making it harder for us to differentiate the top from the bottom.

This Friday was definitely not as high attendance as last one but higher than the ones in September.

I’ve been to more than half of all HW Friday’s in the past 10 years and I’d say yesterday was in the top 10% as far as crowd levels. Wasn’t there last Friday so I can’t compare to that

Urged my friends who flew in for the weekend to ride as much as possible last night in fear of what today would bring. Unfortunately they did not heed my sage advice and chose to drink a metric ton of alcohol instead. Rookies.

My 18 year old son is a "Screamster" at Slaughterhouse this year. His Fridays are pretty taxing on him. He wakes at 4:30am to open at his other job, then goes directly to CP in the afternoon for makeup & costume. Last night he arrived home at 2:20am. At least he can sleep today until 11:00am or so.

My 11 year old and I arrived at 5:00 opening yesterday and based on the the number of cars in the lot at that time it looked as if it would be quite busy. We were on Valravn at 5:10, then 2 rides on Gatekeeper no wait, Dodgem as my son can now handle his own car. Then we went up the stairs where the Screamsters are to look for & say hello to my son and we couldn't find him. One of his Slaughterhouse co-workers said the asked for volunteers to man the front gates scanning passes & tickets and he volunteered. Last night I noticed quite a few workers that are usually at a certain ride at other rides. Staffing seemed ok to me last night.

We headed towards Magnum at 5:50pm & noticed TTD running so we walked right on rear seat. By the time we came back up Frontier Trail we were able to see my oldest marching with his housemates to their post, they all high-fived my youngest. Then caught the last few moments of the Skeletons on the trampolines, those guys are great (probably millennials).

By 8:00 the park was crowded enough that we had to skip Blue Streak as the line was down below the station stairs, too long for our liking. So, over to Boo-Hill for a bag of goodies. Raptor too long also.

Next visit Sunday at 4:00pm. Like someone else pointed out, there are those in every generation that we can bash, also many fine individuals. We often paint with a broad brush.

I will offer up another group to bash, and I am in that group..........City Worker