COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW

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WDWRLD said:
I didnt want to say it because I thought I would get backlash but honestly I dont think the park is really trying to hire, they are just giving the illusion of attemptong to hire and blaming shortages on lack of people willing to work. while they are doing this they are trying to take in as much money as possible and pay out as little as they can. In all the years ive never seen "now hiring" banners outside the park and it looks tacky.
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I think that Hanlon's Razor applies to this. I don't think the park is trying to not hire but I think that they are going at with the assumption that hey people have always been willing to work here and that will always be the case line of thinking instead of actually seeing what the real employee pool is like. If what I was told about starting salary is true and I have no reason to doubt then the best example of this is all three fast food places just down the road are currently hiring and all three are hiring ate a rate that is at least 20% higher then Busch's rate. Would you think that makes for an attracted situation for any potential employee?
 
Im sure the fact they cant hire overseas employees and keep them over in the old hotel in Williamsburg with no access to transportation to anywhere but the park is part of the problem too. I know quite a few people that have worked over the years in the park and very very few have talked highly of working there. From ride operators, to security to healthcase and even some at the very upper management level all have stories about crappy employment practices at the park.
 
Busch’s hiring problems are also reflecting hiring problems across the hospitality industry. And right now their basic energy is essentially “hope the high school and college students solve our problems,” and that’s...not going to work.

But we’ll see what the weekend looks like in terms of crowds: it’s possible that outside of Spring Break, they’ll be able to skate by until May, at least.
 
Not saying it's ok, but I get why they are doing this:

Typically bringing people back means higher pay, and at a time where most companies are doing what they can to cut the bottom line, trying to save some by hiring someone who will make less over bringing back someone who will make more does make sense from a business sense. Even if us as consumers don't like it.
 
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Not sure about this but doesn't minimum wage increase either May 1 or June 1? I'm sure there is a clause about being full time or a 40 hour work requirement. BGW has always skirted that by keeping people classified as part time.
 
I’m in disagreement by the moves from the financial side. I‘d assume they are still struggling on gross margins with the passes carrying over, but they have plenty of cash on hand to weather small losses the next couple quarters while rebuilding the business.

The actions are really short term thinking on making better quarterly numbers than re-growing the business. It would make sense if SEAS were illiquid, but they aren’t and this poor operations is going to hit at some point in the near future with loss of sales.
 
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Well, I got a BGW Employment hiring event ad in my Facebook stream this morning. The park is having a hiring event today and they list the hourly rate as being $13 an hour. I wonder where that came from? ? ?

It makes me believe Seaworld corporate/BGW got caught with their pants down concerning hiring for this season. As some of you have stated, there is something wrong in their HR department if folks are applying and not getting a callback/interview. That includes all these former employees. I don't know if BGW is really picky in hiring seasonal staff; but, maybe they need to reevaluate that.

With COVID, the park should have known that there would be reluctance for a certain percentage of folks not to return to work in the park due to the work environment of being exposed to large numbers of people over many hours. Plus, the foreign worker programs that many park chains use for summer staff is DOA for 2021.

I know that some people are not happy with Cedar Fair/KD's abbreviated operating schedule for 2021; but, upper management there seems to have both feet on the ground and facing the harsh reality of staffing in these times. I'll guess we will find out on May 22 to see if KD can keep most of the rides and food facilities open
 
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For the record, I was speaking to industry insiders throughout last year from multiple chains who were already sounding the staffing and "brain drain" alarm bells. I know the pandemic has brought a ton of economic insecurity to a lot of people, but anecdotally, it also seems to have opened doors for many to pursue career and location changes. Parks were cognizant last year that a significant number of their previously perennial employees would not be returning when the parks did.

Maybe BGW was unprepared for the difficulty they've experienced hiring enough people to run the park—but they definitely shouldn't have been surprised by how much new hiring and training would need to take place.
 
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Zachary said:
For the record, I was speaking to industry insiders throughout last year from multiple chains who were already sounding the staffing and "brain drain" alarm bells. I know the pandemic has brought a ton of economic insecurity to a lot of people, but anecdotally, it also seems to have opened doors for many to pursue career and location changes. Parks were cognizant last year that a significant number of their previously perennial employees would not be returning when the parks did.

Maybe BGW was unprepared for the difficulty they've experienced hiring enough people to run the park—but they definitely shouldn't have been surprised by how much new hiring and training would need to take place.
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I understand what you just shared. My question is why fling the doors open to the whole park when they can barely staff 40% of it. And then the park allows the max number of patrons they can legally have at one time to enter.

The faithful BGW park patrons expect a high level experience and customer service and then the park gives them a sub-par visit? It seems you end up with a bunch of frustrated, pissed-off clientel.

With the college kids coming back home in early May and the hourly pay increase to $13, hopefully the can get things back on track for the summer.
 
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Memles said:
Money! (I know you know this but it seems important to say it: the park chose short-term profits over long term impacts, likely due to corporate mandates of wanting good financials for the next quarterly earnings report or some such.)
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I figured this smelt of financial desperation.

But their clientel has expectations of an above average experience and customer service, which is over and above what the average regional theme park normally provides. That is what BGW normally delivers. You know you can't achieve this right now; but, you still operate as if nothing is wrong and blow-off any reasonable compliants, ignoring your long-term loyal customers? Plus, you are charging full price admission for less than half of your park rides and attractions open.

BGW seems to be shooting themselves in the foot. Not sure if the corporate leadership has settled down with the revolving CEO drama. But, it sounds like someone needs to make some hard decisions to allow the park to adjust their operations to make the park experience more managable for the staff and for the patrons. Hopefully, this staffing issue can be resolved within the next month.
 
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So where I work, our customer satisfaction score is weighed into overall performance - not as much as financials, but enough to where it's still important overall. If it's bad, then we're directed to do our best to figure out why and fix it. None of this pissed off customers not getting a good experience over profits bullshit.
 
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WDWRLD said:
I didnt want to say it because I thought I would get backlash but honestly I dont think the park is really trying to hire, they are just giving the illusion of attemptong to hire and blaming shortages on lack of people willing to work. while they are doing this they are trying to take in as much money as possible and pay out as little as they can. In all the years ive never seen "now hiring" banners outside the park and it looks tacky.
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nope. I’m trying to hire too and no one wants to work.
 
qdeathstar said:
government offers 300....
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Someone doesn't have a single clue as per how the unemployment system works.

news.yale.edu

Yale study finds expanded jobless benefits did not reduce employment

The analysis, supported by Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy, comes as Congress debates whether to extend the expanded unemployment benefits.
news.yale.edu news.yale.edu

How Do Unemployment Benefits Relate to Job Search Behavior? - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

www.chicagofed.org www.chicagofed.org
www.cnbc.com

People receiving unemployment benefits are actually more likely to look for jobs, new study finds

A new study finds that people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits are less likely to look for a job than those still receiving them.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
www.umass.edu

New Research from UMass Amherst Economist Shows Unemployment Insurance Extension During Great Recession Did Not Destroy Jobs

A new study released by a team of economists including Arindrajit Dube, associate professor of economics at UMass Amherst, reveals that the large extension of unemployment insurance benefits during the Great Recession had neither statistically significant nor economically meaningful effect on...
www.umass.edu www.umass.edu

Always best to stick to things we understand... So back to BGW.
 
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BG has some competition as KD is also hiring and according to the local news, there are over 5000 restaurant positions available in Richmond. Why drive to BG when one can stay in Richmond and save on time and gas?
 
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