Disney Hourly Salaries

[cbsnyber1]

I get emails occasionally from glassdoor.com, a website for job hunters. Once you sign up (for a free 10 day trial; it then wants some coin from you to continue) it provides information on jobs, companies, salaries, etc.

I recently got an email from them listing jobs at Disney. Here is a partial list (the first line is the job description; the second are the number of jobs available at all US Disney parks; the third is the average salary; the fourth and fifth are the salary range for that job). These can be found at https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Di...utm_campaign=watch-n&utm_content=wat-n-salary:

Attractions Host - Hourly
85 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$9.47/hr
$8
$13

Disney College Program Intern - Hourly
81 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$8.70/hr
$7
$11

Attractions Cast Member - Hourly
69 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$9.31/hr
$8
$13

Professional Intern - Hourly
68 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$16.62/hr
$8
$23

Character Performer - Hourly
33 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$10.24/hr
$8
$13

Guest Relations Cast Member - Hourly
24 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$11.39/hr
$10
$12

Senior Financial Analyst
24 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$76,837
$61k
$94k

Cast Member - Hourly
22 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$8.55/hr
$8
$10

Merchandise Hostess - Hourly
19 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$8.61/hr
$8
$10

Attractions Cast Member Intern - Hourly
17 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$9.06/hr
$8
$12

Quick Service Food and Beverage Cashier - Hourly
17 Disney Parks & Resorts Salaries
$10.25/hr
$8
$14

Just a few comments on this list: first, people willingly take these jobs for the salaries offered. Work is work, and I'm sure many appreciate an opportunity to work. And I suspect, at least in the Orlando area, that similar rates likely are in effect at the other parks as well.

Second, and that said, I'm appalled that any company that reports billions of profit per quarter, and one that regularly raises prices across the board, can't afford to raise these up a few bucks here and there. I mean, a Merchandise Hostess max is $10 an hour, or $20,800 annually (40 hours per week x 52 weeks). That's about $5K above the Federal minimum, not that great. Could you live on $20K a year?

Third, anyone know what is a "Professional Intern"? Seems an odd job description.

Sorry for the mini rant here - but the disparity between CEO pay (and bonuses) and those at the bottom really is outrageous these days.

 

[aniroc192]

"professional intern" are most likely people involved in the Disney Professional Internship. This means they are in college or recently graduated from college and are interning under their profession in the Walt Disney company. This can mean graphic design majors, communications majors, engineering majors, theatre majors, etc. They are supervised by a Disney Cast Member within those professions that give them tasks in a group or solo setting. It's like one step up from Disney College Program, instead of classes and working on the parks, you work in the backend a bit more within the company.

It is crazy that people can be paid so little. Unfortunately, some people think that is fair for what they're doing. A college friend of mine works on property and she is a hotel front desk operator. She does not get paid well, however, she loves Disney and her hope is to work her way up into the company to do further with her communications degree. This is why I am understanding when things happen at Disney and a cast member needs to enforce them, they're just doing their job and they don't get paid enough to deal with an adult in their face.

 

[Eoghann]

It does rather put Iger's claim to have created 18,000 jobs in perspective doesn't it?

 

[Asellus]

It does rather put Iger's claim to have created 18,000 jobs in perspective doesn't it?

I would take all such claims with a grain of salt from anyone.

 

[KYMickey]

Second, and that said, I'm appalled that any company that reports billions of profit per quarter, and one that regularly raises prices across the board, can't afford to raise these up a few bucks here and there.

I agree they should be paid more but, if you look at how many hours per week of work by Disney employees even a $1/hr raise for each one of them would be a huge amount of money. I'm not sure the exact number of employees Disney has in Orlando but I've heard is well above 50,000 people. 50,000 people x 40 hours per week = 2 million hours. Thus a dollar per hour raise but increased business expenses by $2 million per week!

 

[afan]

As far as the internship, they often aren't paid well, if at all. I interned for a couple of professional sports organizations in the late 90's early 00's and it was unpaid. I had 2 internships required for my degree, so I, like many others, paid to do my internship since I had to pay tuition on the internship "class" to get credit. This is part of why most places require you get college credit for an internship, because it's either not paid or low pay, it's not to be considered a job and generally has a time limit on it like 3 months or 1500 hours etc.

They also know there are enough students out there that need internships for credit that if someone doesn't want it due to the no or low pay someone else will gladly take it. Sadly it's part of what financial aid pays for. I did get perks with the positions I had, tickets to games etc, which I'm sure is part of what makes working for Disney so great for many, the free admission.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I agree they should be paid more but, if you look at how many hours per week of work by Disney employees even a $1/hr raise for each one of them would be a huge amount of money. I'm not sure the exact number of employees Disney has in Orlando but I've heard is well above 50,000 people. 50,000 people x 40 hours per week = 2 million hours. Thus a dollar per hour raise but increased business expenses by $2 million per week!

It's been 60-65,000 employees for many years.

WDW is the largest single site private employer in the United States (I believe only the pentagon is larger at all)...
But most are minimum
Wage...or within a stones throw of it.

"Hoping to work their way up" is a 10-15 year proposition for most. It's 5+ years to entry level.

And WDW is designed to suck money out of the eastern us (primarily) and send it in the form of profit to the mothership. It is not designed to create a well paid, successful work force in central florida.

These are just the realities.

 

[whiporee]

Second, and that said, I'm appalled that any company that reports billions of profit per quarter, and one that regularly raises prices across the board, can't afford to raise these up a few bucks here and there. I mean, a Merchandise Hostess max is $10 an hour, or $20,800 annually (40 hours per week x 52 weeks). That's about $5K above the Federal minimum, not that great. Could you live on $20K a year?

They pay higher than the minimum wage on average for jobs that require little training, expertise or technical skill -- 6 percent higher than minimum wage. It's not a lot of money, but it's higher than they a) are legally required to pay and b) what anyone doing that job should expect to be paid. It's not a high-skill job to smile and make sure Mickey turns green, or to ring up sales at the cash register (and they make nearly 30 percent higher than minimum wage).

I used to be a sales manager for a small builder in the midwest. We hired our salespeople with a different idea than most -- instead of paying on commission, we paid a decent base salary and small bonuses as opposed to a small base and commissions. We gave great benefits and a non-pressure environment for our team, but they made a lot less than the average new home salesperson. Eventually, one of my people making 45 would talk to someone at another builder making 100+, and my salesperson would become disgruntled and come to me. And I'd tell them the same thing every time -- I could never pay you what you are worth, I can only pay what the job is worth. And to our company, the job is worth this. There's no room for advancement unless we grow a lot bigger, and I hope you take the things you learn here and use them to get a better job somewhere else. But this job is this.

Disney doesn't have an obligation to provide careers to its workers. If they excel at the job they have, hopefully they'll get noticed and promoted. But that's not a given anywhere, and it's not at Disney. I hope no one is ever satisfied with a minimum-wage job, but if they are, that's not on the employer, and it's not on the employer to compensate for lack of ambition of its employees. Now, if you want to argue that some of those jobs are worth more than they are paying -- the skill level and competition level justifies more money -- then that's a different argument, one most people would be hard-pressed to make. But just looking at Disney profits and comparing them to low-level salaries isn't an accurate representation of what is actually happening. Businesses pay for the job, not for the person's well being.

 

[wilkeliza]

Glassdoor is not actual employment information and is given by people in those positions. They also don't account for when someone worked where they are. There are merchandise location employees who make more than $10 an hour. Glassdoor also doesn't make sure the title someone puts in matches 100% so someone may put merchandise hostess and someone else might put merchandise cast member or merchandise seller or shop worker or whatever they want.

I take Glassdoor with a grain of salt because the one for my current company says my positions makes much less than it actually does because the person who left was a temp and wasn't being paid fully salary and he wrote a bad review in hopes it would hurt the company.

I'm not saying Disney doesn't pay low but they do pay above minimum wage and if people work their way up and around the company there is ability to get into a position that pays more and a livable wage.

 

[LSUlakes]

Second, and that said, I'm appalled that any company that reports billions of profit per quarter, and one that regularly raises prices across the board, can't afford to raise these up a few bucks here and there. I mean, a Merchandise Hostess max is $10 an hour, or $20,800 annually (40 hours per week x 52 weeks). That's about $5K above the Federal minimum, not that great. Could you live on $20K a year?

For unskilled labor, those rates are fine. It should probably be noted that most of the jobs listed are not meant to be a long term careers, but instead a job for a college kid with the summer off, high school kid, someone between jobs, ect.

If wages go up, the price of the goods and services will go up as well.

 

[mikepizzo]

For unskilled labor, those rates are fine. It should probably be noted that most of the jobs listed are not meant to be a long term careers, but instead a job for a college kid with the summer off, high school kid, someone between jobs, ect.

If wages go up, the price of the goods and services will go up as well.

Not so sure about that last part...pretty sure prices are going to go up regardless.

 

[Madteaparty001]

I really don't understand when people call customer service based jobs unskilled labor. Good customer service is a skill. Just like being a mechanic is hard on the body, catering to the general population is hard on the mind. Do I think people working on the sales floor at Macy's deserve $20 an hour? No. But I do think they are worth more than minimum wage. The way it used to work was kids still in high school who didn't need to support themselves would work these fast food/stocking/retail jobs and were paid accordingly. But now they want you to be out of school, have 24 hour availability, only make you part time so they don't have to pay for benefits, and only schedule you 4-5 hours at a time so they can schedule people back to back with no breaks.

An adult can not survive on this, and wages have not kept up with the rate of inflation. And companies claim there is a lack of skilled labor, but yet refuse to train anybody to do the job. On top of this those who have the skills because they went to school and racked up debt aren't being offered a wage that will compensate for the sunk in cost. The job market in America has a lot of problems to sort out. Thanks for the rant.

 

[Alice Royal]

This is why I refuse to work for Disney. I interviewed for a 'professional' position (not an internship, just an entry-level job for someone with a degree) and was told $12 an hour. Are you kidding? I have $800/month in student loan payments I have to start paying soon. For any company to offer a recent Bachelor's grad that low of a pay grade is a joke.

 

[SureAsLiz]

Third, anyone know what is a "Professional Intern"? Seems an odd job description.

As others have said, a professional intern is anyone involved in the Professional Internship program and the roles exist throughout the company. Definitely take the numbers with a grain of salt because intern salaries vary widely and are determined by each individual department. A marketing intern has a different rate than an education presenter intern.

As far as the internship, they often aren't paid well, if at all.

It is a legal requirement that internships at for profit businesses pay interns, unless they meet 6 specific requirements (basically a shadowing program can be unpaid). Government and Nonprofits are excluded from this. Disney pays all of their interns since they all provide a direct benefit to the company (the basic litmus test for paid vs unpaid).

And like I said above, PIs are paid on a very large scale depending on their department. I know people at the low end who needed several roommates in order to live, but I also know people who could have had their own apartment on intern pay.

 

[whiporee]

I really don't understand when people call customer service based jobs unskilled labor. Good customer service is a skill. Just like being a mechanic is hard on the body, catering to the general population is hard on the mind. Do I think people working on the sales floor at Macy's deserve $20 an hour? No. But I do think they are worth more than minimum wage. The way it used to work was kids still in high school who didn't need to support themselves would work these fast food/stocking/retail jobs and were paid accordingly. But now they want you to be out of school, have 24 hour availability, only make you part time so they don't have to pay for benefits, and only schedule you 4-5 hours at a time so they can schedule people back to back with no breaks.

An adult can not survive on this, and wages have not kept up with the rate of inflation. And companies claim there is a lack of skilled labor, but yet refuse to train anybody to do the job. On top of this those who have the skills because they went to school and racked up debt aren't being offered a wage that will compensate for the sunk in cost. The job market in America has a lot of problems to sort out. Thanks for the rant.

I think the problem is lumping all customer service jobs together. Does someone who handles reservations and helps people strategize their vacation -- knows their way around the system to actually serve people -- have more skill than someone who asks how many are in your party, okay, watch your step? Sure. There are variations in skills required for a lot of things.

The problem with training isn't training, it's automation. Much of what used to require people to do -- people with skills and knowledge -- is not being done by computers.

What training can WDW do for CMs? What can they teach them to do? It's low skill, low expertise work. There AREN'T skills to be learned in most of these jobs. By nature they're transitory.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I really don't understand when people call customer service based jobs unskilled labor. Good customer service is a skill. Just like being a mechanic is hard on the body, catering to the general population is hard on the mind. Do I think people working on the sales floor at Macy's deserve $20 an hour? No. But I do think they are worth more than minimum wage. The way it used to work was kids still in high school who didn't need to support themselves would work these fast food/stocking/retail jobs and were paid accordingly. But now they want you to be out of school, have 24 hour availability, only make you part time so they don't have to pay for benefits, and only schedule you 4-5 hours at a time so they can schedule people back to back with no breaks.

An adult can not survive on this, and wages have not kept up with the rate of inflation. And companies claim there is a lack of skilled labor, but yet refuse to train anybody to do the job. On top of this those who have the skills because they went to school and racked up debt aren't being offered a wage that will compensate for the sunk in cost. The job market in America has a lot of problems to sort out. Thanks for the rant.

Being hard on the mind doesn't mean that it is skilled labor.

My husband tells me that he couldn't do what I do. Why? Because I have to be nice to stupid, mean, obnoxious people. He is an Electrical Engineer. I'm in customer service. He has a degree and 30 years of experience. I also have many years of experience. But you could teach someone, with the right personality, to do my job in an hour. I'm unskilled labor.

I'm not sure where you are, but fast food work here is a bunch of high school students, with a few college students thrown in, with adults in charge. They don't expect the students to miss class or to be out of school or to have 24 hour availability. In fact, most fast food places aren't open 24 hours a day. And yes, these are part time jobs. And no, they don't have benefits. But they never have. They aren't for heads of family to support the family. These jobs are for those just starting out.

An adult that has been working since he or she was a teen, would have hopefully moved on from asking, "do you want fries with that?"

 

[manning]

This is why I refuse to work for Disney. I interviewed for a 'professional' position (not an internship, just an entry-level job for someone with a degree) and was told $12 an hour. Are you kidding? I have $800/month in student loan payments I have to start paying soon. For any company to offer a recent Bachelor's grad that low of a pay grade is a joke.

Getting a job with a degree is real tough now. You may want to look at blue collar work until the market picks up. I understand that's where the hiring is happening now.

 

[wilkeliza]

This is why I refuse to work for Disney. I interviewed for a 'professional' position (not an internship, just an entry-level job for someone with a degree) and was told $12 an hour. Are you kidding? I have $800/month in student loan payments I have to start paying soon. For any company to offer a recent Bachelor's grad that low of a pay grade is a joke.

12 isn't that bad unfortunately. My 1st year out of college I barely could get more than 11 for a manager position in NYC. Since then I've worked up to a little more but 12 for a entry-level degree job isn't unheard of. In Orlando you could actually live on that amount and if your loans are from the government then you can always get the amount per a month reduced by getting it tied to your income. Many private lenders do it as well.

 

[Madteaparty001]

Being hard on the mind doesn't mean that it is skilled labor.

My husband tells me that he couldn't do what I do. Why? Because I have to be nice to stupid, mean, obnoxious people. He is an Electrical Engineer. I'm in customer service. He has a degree and 30 years of experience. I also have many years of experience. But you could teach someone, with the right personality, to do my job in an hour. I'm unskilled labor.

I'm not sure where you are, but fast food work here is a bunch of high school students, with a few college students thrown in, with adults in charge. They don't expect the students to miss class or to be out of school or to have 24 hour availability. In fact, most fast food places aren't open 24 hours a day. And yes, these are part time jobs. And no, they don't have benefits. But they never have. They aren't for heads of family to support the family. These jobs are for those just starting out.

An adult that has been working since he or she was a teen, would have hopefully moved on from asking, "do you want fries with that?"

I'm pretty sure I indicated that I didn't think highly skilled labor and customer service should be payed on the same pay scale. And just because you can teach someone your job in an hour (and I've worked retail/customer service before in multiple places, training takes at least a week) doesn't mean that person will do the job well.

Not really sure why your stuck on fast food but that and customer service is high turn over 1. because the pay is crap, and 2. because it's a hard job (in a soul sucking way). Why do you think garbage men get paid so much money? Because it's not an attractive job. Walmart and McDonalds are on this path and having to fight the stigma of crappy work by continuously raising their starting pay. I have a friend in college looking for part time work, recently interviewed at Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and Teavana, all required that she work holidays and have open availability on the weekend. All of these places wouldn't hire if she wasn't at least 18 years old.

As for these being jobs for people just starting out, sometimes these are the only jobs people can get when companies want to hire people with 5 years experience for an entry level position paying the same as the retail outlets.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I'm pretty sure I indicated that I didn't think highly skilled labor and customer service should be payed on the same pay scale. And just because you can teach someone your job in an hour (and I've worked retail/customer service before in multiple places, training takes at least a week) doesn't mean that person will do the job well.

A whole week? Wow.
No, sorry, I've been working customer service for years. Yes, you can claim it takes a week. But really, other than the new register, the new complaint system or the new computer, it doesn't take long.
Take a skilled labor job. It can take months to learn the job. And that is in addition to a college degree. Or possibly years as an apprentice.

Not really sure why your stuck on fast food but that and customer service is high turn over 1. because the pay is crap, and 2. because it's a hard job (in a soul sucking way). Why do you think garbage men get paid so much money? Because it's not an attractive job. Walmart and McDonalds are on this path and having to fight the stigma of crappy work by continuously raising their starting pay. I have a friend in college looking for part time work, recently interviewed at Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and Teavana, all required that she work holidays and have open availability on the weekend. All of these places wouldn't hire if she wasn't at least 18 years old.

Sorry, I thought you had been talking about fast food jobs.
But even with your friend. She isn't being asked to be available 24 hours a day. She is simply being asked to work holidays and weekends. That is normal for the low man on the pole.

When I first went to work, I was scheduled Friday and Saturday night. Then Sunday afternoon opened up to me. The sweet schedules were for those that had been there the longest.

As for these being jobs for people just starting out, sometimes these are the only jobs people can get when companies want to hire people with 5 years experience for an entry level position paying the same as the retail outlets.

But these jobs aren't worth any more pay. It doesn't matter who is working it. Someone that has student loans or someone with a family doesn't deserve a larger salary simply because they have loans or a family. Or because it is the only job they can find.