I feel like that was also at a time when you would see 3-5 people willing and begging to take that position too. That doesn’t really exist anymore. There’s almost too little unemployment and too many job openings.
The State of the Park: Busch Gardens Williamsburg
- Thread starter CoasterTalkBob
- Start date
3 to 5 people would be willing and begging to take that position if BGW would pay more.
GoKarts Plus paying more for the same job than Busch Gardens Williamsburg is just unfathomably unacceptable.
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I am supposed to go to the park tomorrow (8/20) with a friend for the first time in 3 years, and I am generally unsettled about it. Williamsburg's weather calls for rain, and coming from NOVA, I am leery of even going, however I have not ridden anything driven by gravity in ages and I'm jonesing for Pantheon.
I know I'm going to be pissed, but should I even bother? That fountain picture alone is hell for me to view.
I know I'm going to be pissed, but should I even bother? That fountain picture alone is hell for me to view.
The forecast isn't calling for an all day rain event, but rather rain at times throughout the day.
That will likely keep a number of folks home, so assuming you are fine with occasional downtime tomorrow, it might actually be a good day to visit from a crowd perspective.
I would stop at Kings Dominion instead.
I don't think this is a defense at all. I've heard from someone that works at SFA that working conditions and morale have been extremely low there..... Both SEAS and SF seem to be still trying to skate by on bare minimum employee treatment while charging a ton more and as a result both parks have the power to fix this. AFAIK you can work at Sheetz (which is almost certainly closer to you) for a higher rate and less responsibility and be at a company that is noted for taking care of their employees.
In my company there's a significant issue with staffing and hiring new personnel. We even have contractors turning down full-time positions because they would take a pay decrease. No matter how we advocate for higher wages in order to bring more bodies in, ANY bodies, higher management won't budge because it's not their direct problem... I can imagine that this is similar to what SEAS (and its guests) are experiencing at this time.
Moral of story: people have learned that they are "heroes" and "front line workers" and "needed". Pay them accordingly or don't be surprised if they decline to work for shitty wages.
Moral of story: people have learned that they are "heroes" and "front line workers" and "needed". Pay them accordingly or don't be surprised if they decline to work for shitty wages.
And this is exactly why SF and SEAS are struggling and why SFA isn't a defense to BGW..... Cedar Fair is doing better and, interestingly enough, they are paying better (and in talking to people I know that work at KD, they treat their employees well). If both SF and SEAS were to pay fairly and treat employees better neither one would be having the complications they are having. In both cases is additionally frustrating that they've both already increased their prices dramatically and still have done nothing for their employees.
FWIW, my jaw dropped when I saw the single day online ticket price right now for KD is a quite affordable $56.98.
I think I may change my plans for Saturday on that alone...
It's part of the answer. A big problem has been a lack of respect for the lower level employees. It's a combination of a bunch of different things of which it seems SEAS and SF are not doing any of.
The part time economy as a whole is hurting. That’s kinda my point here. Yes they are hurting themselves. But it’s something that has a foundational issue across the country right now.
I don't disagree that it's sometihing across the nation but I don't see how it's a defense. They have the power to change it -- they don't change it..... If it was something that they had no power to correct then, sure, defend them..... but this is pure corporate greed at play. We constantly see examples of blame being placed on people who are in circumstances that they actually can't control but yet when it comes to a corporation for some reason it's acceptable to just say "well, everyone else is effing up too so cut them some slack". If BGW raises wages and starts giving a shit about their employees and still has an issue then maybe we can cut them some slack but when a company lays off their workforce for the sole purpose of rehiring people at lower rates I just simply can't fathom giving them any kind of defense.
I wouldn’t be so quick to castigate SF and praise BGW for this. I’ve heard from a handful of Cedar Fair higher-ups that when some of their parks began reopening in 2020, high-ups across the company (marketing, finance, etc.) worked shifts in various low-level positions: cleaning bathrooms, running Dippin’ Dots stands, working rides, etc. The idea wasn’t necessarily to increase staffing (after all, there’s only so many high-ups), but rather to boost morale and substantiate the idea that they’re all in it together. They wanted to show that the company was serious about weathering the storm as a team effort.
At KD, I think it sends a powerful message when I see Bridgette (the VP & GM) pushing a dumpster or a marketing director changing a trash can. It tells me that leadership actually understands the difficulties that their hourly staff deals with, and they truly want to help out whenever they can. That’s leadership.
On the other hand, celebrating the fact that Susie doesn’t clean the BGW bathrooms rubs me the wrong way. I think it actually underscores how out-of-touch BGW’s leadership is and the fact that they neither understand the challenges of their hourly staff nor care to help them.
Help me understand what you're saying then..... you said you were defending BGW because SFA is having the same problem and I'll concur that there is widespread problems like this all over the place. My point is that both BGW and SFA have the power to fix the problem but they choose not to.
What am I missing?
For the record, I'm not understanding either @warfelg. Wesaw BGW's staffing shortages temporarily improved last year through temporary wage increases. We've seen KD not suffering from major staffing issues despite being in a historically much more problematic staffing environment. It seems likely that the disparity is the result of better pay and better management at Kings Dominion.
I'm just not understanding why we shouldn't assume the staffing situation wouldn't be improved by wage increases and working conditions improvements.
I'm just not understanding why we shouldn't assume the staffing situation wouldn't be improved by wage increases and working conditions improvements.
Because that whole part of the jobs economy is down. I’m not saying BGW can’t be better, they should.
This article highlights where I’m coming from:
Understanding America’s Labor Shortage
Workforce participation remains below pre-pandemic levels. We are missing 1.7 million Americans from the workforce compared to February of 2020.