Disney World on list of lowest-paying jobs

[nytimez]

Anyone else see this story at MSNBC? Ouch!

The 8 lowest-paying jobs in America


"...but in Florida, land of Disney World, the wage is $8.90 an hour. Alas, Mickey Mouse isn’t spreading the joy to workers’ pockets. Wages there for these jobs are below the national mean hourly wage of $9.35 an hour."

I've always realized that the CMs don't make much money for what they do -- but this makes me appreciate them even more. Thanks to all the CMs who manage to spread the magic even if you're struggling to make ends meet yourself.

 

[Donut23]

It's been this way ..... well ..... forever!

A few years ago I worked with two relocated castmembers. They said many castmembers start at Disney but move to Universal or Sea World for better wages and working conditions.

Next time you wonder if it's worth tipping a mousekeeper.....remember they are working for less than $10 p/hour.....generally part time so they receive no medical (like they could afford it) or other benefits.

At $8.90 p/hour - full-time wages for a 52 week year would only be $18,512 -that's $356 for a 40 hour week BEFORE deductions. 31 hours (part time hours) - $275.90 before deductions.

One reason we always try to make castmembers smile.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well.. I would love for everyone to make lots of money, but the jobs listed are essentially non skilled jobs. No offense meant to the people in those positions, but that is just reality. I wouldn't expect a movie usher to make 80k, would you?

MG

 

[skiingfast]

Next time you wonder if it's worth tipping a mousekeeper.....remember they are working for less than $10 p/hour.....generally part time so they receive no medical (like they could afford it) or other benefits.

At $8.90 p/hour - full-time wages for a 52 week year would only be $18,512 -that's $356 for a 40 hour week BEFORE deductions. 31 hours (part time hours) - $275.90 before deductions.

The flip side of this if the wage went up they wouldn't not be able to get insurance through the govenment.

Walmart often accused because of it's low wage and few benefits, but has the largest number of employees in the US who get medicaid. So they aren't uninsured.

I'm not saying this is right, but should disney raise the compensation to $17 an hour. Then how bad would you feel for Mousekeeping? How would you feel about higher rates for food, rooms and tickets?

 

[Donut23]

Well.. I would love for everyone to make lots of money, but the jobs listed are essentially non skilled jobs. No offense meant to the people in those positions, but that is just reality. I wouldn't expect a movie usher to make 80k, would you?

MG

I don't think anyone would expect an entry level castmember to earn $80,000...but a living wage would be nice, don't you think?

I'd like to see ANY of us here to try to live on $19,000 a year!!! That's a BIG difference from $80,000!

 

[patsal]

Essentially all listed jobs that pay that wage are not good paying jobs anywhere, not just at Disney. The difference, some people tip workers in WDW so they make more. Please don't misunderstand, we do need people who are willing to work for these wages because we need people to do this work, but this is unskilled, entry level stuff. I think many are two wage earning families so double that for household income, or younger people who still live at home.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I wonder if they group their interns into that figure. I know when I was in the college program, the wage was $5.60 an hour and then they charged us $62 or $65 a week for housing (which we lived with 5 other people). The only way I came home with any money in the bank was by doing so much overtime at other resorts. People gripe about the ticket prices so really there is no room for much improvement in wages. So, tipping is definitely appreciated for many of the castmembers we will meet during our trips like another posted pointed out.

 

[KidDurango]

Things aren't as bad as they are being painted here. First, unlike as was stated earlier, "most" of the cast members are not PT and they do recieve pretty decent benefits. The union contract that governs most of the cast members says that 70% of the workforce must be full time.
Also, if wages and benefits are so bad, why do you see so many 10, 20 and 30+ year cast members even among the hourly cast members, Universal and Sea World's hiring processes are not so difficult as to disuade anyone from going if the conditions were truly better.
Finally, for those reading this from outside of the state of Florida, you must consider that though Florida in general has a lower wage than the national mean, the cost of living is signifcantly lower as well. To start, there is no state income tax, so a larger percentage of your pay goes home with you. Also, housing is considerably cheaper. There are nice areas around Orlando right now where you can get a 3000 sq ft house for under 200,000. For most of the country, that is a huge bargan.

 

[Figment632]

Its a theme park why would you pay the employees like ride staff cleaning crews anything more?

 

[nytimez]

Things aren't as bad as they are being painted here. First, unlike as was stated earlier, "most" of the cast members are not PT and they do recieve pretty decent benefits. The union contract that governs most of the cast members says that 70% of the workforce must be full time.
Also, if wages and benefits are so bad, why do you see so many 10, 20 and 30+ year cast members even among the hourly cast members, Universal and Sea World's hiring processes are not so difficult as to disuade anyone from going if the conditions were truly better.
Finally, for those reading this from outside of the state of Florida, you must consider that though Florida in general has a lower wage than the national mean, the cost of living is signifcantly lower as well. To start, there is no state income tax, so a larger percentage of your pay goes home with you. Also, housing is considerably cheaper. There are nice areas around Orlando right now where you can get a 3000 sq ft house for under 200,000. For most of the country, that is a huge bargan.

I don't think anyone making $8.90 an hour is buying a $200,000 house. And state income tax doesn't enter the picture at that level -- as a previous poster pointed out, the Disney average would work out to just above $18,000 a year on a full-time basis. With the standard exemptions, they aren't paying much in taxes at all (if anything). Most states base income taxes on federal taxes, and nearly half of all U.S. households pain no income tax last year (typically a family of four, including two children, who earn $50,000 a year or less -- or more than the value of two full-time Disney jobs).

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Things aren't as bad as they are being painted here. First, unlike as was stated earlier, "most" of the cast members are not PT and they do recieve pretty decent benefits. The union contract that governs most of the cast members says that 70% of the workforce must be full time.
Also, if wages and benefits are so bad, why do you see so many 10, 20 and 30+ year cast members even among the hourly cast members, Universal and Sea World's hiring processes are not so difficult as to disuade anyone from going if the conditions were truly better.
Finally, for those reading this from outside of the state of Florida, you must consider that though Florida in general has a lower wage than the national mean, the cost of living is signifcantly lower as well. To start, there is no state income tax, so a larger percentage of your pay goes home with you. Also, housing is considerably cheaper. There are nice areas around Orlando right now where you can get a 3000 sq ft house for under 200,000. For most of the country, that is a huge bargan.

Housing may be cheaper, but property taxes are pretty high so most can not afford a house with those wages. Yes, Disney does have some great benefits which have to be added into the equation as being additional pay, but I think a lot of people stay more for the people that visit than because they actually love their jobs. I know most griped about the Union atmosphere because seniority won over everything and that you really had no choice but to join the union. I guarantee if the union was dismissed that pay would go up because they could staff for what is needed rather than what is required by the contract. Unions used to have a good place in the hospitality industry but they are slowly being phased out.

 

[jlwhitney]

I think many people forgot to mention that people CHOOSE to work there and stay there for thier own reasons. If someone is not happy in thier job and thier pay it is that persons responisbility to fight and do what they need to reach for a job they want. Many people grouch and complain about thier job/benefits/pay and do nothing about it. You are also forgeeting all the international staff who for them the pay is great...anywhere in the world where our dollar is stronger is great for those many workers...plus some of them are getting skills and oppurtunities that they would not get back home.

I also agree that the jobs are non-skilled jobs for the most part and no one would expect to get paid a ton for them.

Also, Florida has No state income tax at all and property tax is high but no higher than Pennnslyvania (we moved from PA to FL). You can defiantly get a bigger and nicer house down here for less money than other places.

 

[CandyMandy]

I don't think anyone would expect an entry level castmember to earn $80,000...but a living wage would be nice, don't you think?

Define "living wage."

 

[KidDurango]

Sorry, didn't mean to make my examples so difficult to use in a comparison situation. I should have known better than to think someone might be able to extrapolate that housing in general is cheaper from my example. So I will rephrase. In the Orlando area, it is easy to find a 1400 sq ft home for under 100,000. Also, as a general rule, those who are just starting, and therefore earning the lowest cited rate, are not looking to purchase a home, so I will also say that rent is comparably low.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Unless they have drastically re-written their rules (they haven't)

...accepting tips is explicitly prohibited for the majority of workers for the Walt Disney Company...in writing termination for acceptance is not unheard of...i personally worked with someone who was terminated for accepting gratuities in a "non-tipped" job title.

The legend was that Disney himself didn't want to encourage a system where people could "pay more" for better service...which is logical in theory.

But under the current labor system at wdw...it is a means of cost control and a way to maintain order in the day to day operation.

You've seen it manifested over the years....servers at restaurants (particularly character buffets) where earning 75-100K (roughly...in some cases) to basically clear plates and pour juice. Their managers were making 1/3 that much. disney cut tables....
pleasure island bartenders would take home $200-400$ a night in tips...disney cut hours and shifts...

This tug of war has and will go on forever there as they toe the fine line between keeping enough staff to operate and eliminating as much benefit to the employee as possible to preserve the property as a cash cow.


Many people are against outsourcing...i'm all for it at WDW. Perhaps the remaining disney employees will then be brought up to a respectable standard...and at least they will -perhaps - carry on the standards of 1955. It's probably the best shot you have.

It is true that most of the jobs at WDW are "manual" by todays standards and wouldn't necessarily involve high wages or benefits. But i've always been of the mindset that what you would lose in hourly compensation, you would gain in productivity, product integrity, repeat business, and bang for your buck when it comes to paying for health benefits, vacation,and other forms of compensation by streamlining the WDW workforce into a smaller, but much more effective and competent workforce.

But that's just me....their models tell them buy in bulk and sacrifice on quality (attention wal-mart shoppers)

As far as tipping...there are "tipped" positions that are paid a baseline salary wage per hour...somewhere around probably 4 dollars now...with the understanding that the gratuities provide the majority of the earnings. Bell hops, bartenders, and waiters are included in those.

Most other WDW positions are not...including housekeepers. are they tipped? sure Is it a problem with the managers on the ground? 99.9% of the time no Is it allowed by the disney guidelines? absolutely not.

And as far as my own experience (and contrary to some of the misguided comments on this particular thread)...not everyone who works at WDW is simply a clock-punching drone. Many current and former people provided necessary services to keep the money operation going. As much as they would like - the place can't run itself and can't be done without 1 on 1 skills and interaction, real-time problem solving in a given moment, and the human brain.

Working in guest service operations, i had the "responsibility" for maintaining order with the employees, operations, computers, and financial processes at one of the busiest front desks at WDW for roughly 9 hours a day....that equated to hundreds of thousands of dollars of monetary transactions just during my watch each day.

so it's not all "amusement park for dummies" It can be very mindless...but it can also be pretty important to how things show on your stockholder annual report.

There is a pretty big lack of perspective on some of the comments here so far...

And i for one am disheartened and embarassed when an article spells it out how the employees at WDW are chattle in the grand scheme of things.

I go there often and spend loads of money too...but i know what it is like on the other side. And if i had to describe it in one word...it would not be "magic".

Just find one of these 20,30 year vets and ask what's different about now from years ago. If not the first or second thing they say...they will undoubtedly say that "this used to be a "good" job" or "hard to get"

That was because the pay was more on par in the past than it is now. And that is why they can't keep enough people on staff. What used to be a respectable, livable wage in the 70s and 80s has fallen behind the CPI and inflation significantly over time.

I can't believe that somebody suggest that wal-mart was doing their workers "a favor" by allowing them to qualify for medicaid...they're real heros
We can only hope that Disney doesn't "cave" to the pressure and give their employees $17 an hour

 

[Donut23]

DH is a 32 year veteran. If you ask him if anything is different I suspect his first comment would be to remind everyone of the two extensive layoffs a year ago (which were preceeded by small localized layoffs the year prior). Staffing levels are bare bones. This means tremendous stress and prone to mistakes.

....prone to mistakes. Think about it - do you want your children on a ride supervised by understaffed, low-wage employees. Oh yes....."they are just theme park employes, why would you pay ride staff anything more?" Even the most dedicated staff are prone to mistakes when short-staffed.

I don't think anyone here has said Disney should pay $17 p/hour for entry level staff (almost double their actual starting salary).

Any some wonder why there are occassional lapses in Pixie Dust.

 

[Lewisc]

We're living in some kind of bizzaro world when people consider it a positive when a company pays the employees so little that they're eligible for government assistance including medicaid, food stamps and other benefits designed for the working poor.

I understand the jobs we're talking about are lower paid jobs. The point that's made is Disney is paying below the National averages and, according to at least one poster, less then what Universal is paying.

It looks like many CMs, not in positions that are allowed to accept tips, don't make much (any?) more then housekeeping. I often wondered why some posters think it's important to tip housekeeping (even though it's not a "tipped" position) when CMs in similar jobs (at similar pay) aren't tipped. Does the CM who cleans the restrooms in the theme parks have a better job then the CM who cleans our room?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I don't think anyone would expect an entry level castmember to earn $80,000...but a living wage would be nice, don't you think?

I'd like to see ANY of us here to try to live on $19,000 a year!!! That's a BIG difference from $80,000!

No, I wouldn't expect these *types* of jobs to pay a livable wage (as patsal pointed out it's not just Disney, it's these types of jobs in general).

Disney and the current economy aside, in general these types of jobs are filled with part time high school or college students trying to make a few bucks. They are not usually filled with a the family bread winner trying to support a family.

On a side note, in 1990 my salary was $12,800 for a professional job. Granted that was 20 years ago, but still...
I have found a new job since then!

MG

 

[nytimez]

There seems to be an assumption that all the people earning low wages at Disney are cleaning bathrooms, when that's definitely not the case. I know people who had jobs at WDW that required advanced degrees and had to leave because the pay was so low and there were few opportunities to earn more.

That's just sad.

I know some people say "If they don't like it, they should leave." And that's true to a certain extent -- but it also means that a place we all enjoy visiting will lose talented staff members.

Also, as Central Florida's largest employer, Disney's wages have a huge impact on everyone else (as well as the availability of other jobs). Remember, 1 out of every 6 workers in Central Florida is employed Disney.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Maistre:
That's a good point. You may start at $5.00 an hour, but YOU don't need to be satisfied with that. I know there are many stories of successful WDW employees who started at the bottom and were willing and able to work their way up in the Company.
.