Is DLR still hurting for lack of cast members?

[Mac Daddy]

Just wondering if anyone else saw the full page ad today in the Orange County Register. (They may have also run one in the Times.) Full page, full color, advertising ALL of the perks that Disney empoyees get - free admission to the park, friends in free, free GIFT WRAP (hadn't heard that one before) discounts on merchandise, etc, etc. They were also announcing a $100.00 bonus for qualified positions. (Is it just me, or does that not sound like much?) They also made it sound like you could go down anytime during business hours and they would interview you on the spot. (I don't have exact wording because it is now covered in pumpkin goo.)

I was wondering if they run this ad every year right before the holiday season, or if this was a new pitch in light of the 100's of CMs that left when they began cracking down on attendance.

Are the lines still long for food, etc?

[MissChristine]

didn't hear about this, but good to know! (and hey, everyone could use a little extra gift wrap!!)

[EagleWings]

I'm going and applying on Tuesday. I wonder if they still won't talk to people under 18 (I'm 17 and a half!)

[MissChristine]

I was just visiting the disneyland careers website and in the job descriptions for attractions (and all of the other jobs, too!) there's mentions of free admissions for friends, free gift-wrapping service (i guess they're trying to get you in for christmas?) and a chance to get a $100 red bow-nus....yeah. anyway, maybe I'll see you there, Eaglewings!!

[fantoongal]

WHAT??!!! free gift wrap! how come i never knew this!!! in almost 3 years as a cm?!!! what the heck! liars!

that is all

[dlrfanatic]

So let me guess. The $100 sign on bonus is only for those who hire into foods, right?

[Disnerd]

Hah! The word is out at the college campus and on the street about how bad things are for Cast Members that people are staying away from casting like the plague. My wife is a General Manager and she called to see if she could get some people into traditions. They said sure. We only have 25 people signed up. The TDA center use to be filled with new hires. The job fair was a flop. A lot of new hires stopped showing up after a couple of days. In my location they have been sending over entertainment understudys to fill the area. Problem is that they are not union, so they can't ring. Impact on the guest is that there are more and more registers not open. People are screaming at us to call a manager and open more registers. Problem is most of the managers have gone to the GAP and even if you opened all of the registers we have nobody to push the buttons. All this is causing good Cast Members to leave. After November 17th. when the CM's who started with the opening of the new resort hit 5 years you are going to see a lot of Cast leave. They are holding out for the 5 year pin and the luncheon and then they are off to higher paying jobs. I know a great Cast Member who has been at the resort for over 7 years and the only reason she is staying is because of the medical benefits for her sick Mother. She has told me that once her Mother has passed away she is gone. It is so sad to see the lack of moral at the Resort. Don't believe me? Just walk thru the retail locations and see how few Cast Members are in the stores. And all new hires are going to foods because they are worst off than stores. And the union negotiations are not going that well. Check out http://www.ufcw324.org click on the link that says DTD/WOD negotiations. More Cast Members are saying that if they cut any benefits or raise the cost of health care they are leaving. I tell this to everyone so that maybe in your hearts you will go easy on us when the line is 20 guest deep and you feel like yelling at us to open more registers. We would if we could. Guest anger directed at the Cast just causes more Cast Members to quit. It really breaks my heart when I go off stage to use the restroom and inside a stall I hear a Cast Member crying because some guest took out their fustrations on them. All I can say is a quite, "Hang in there". I'm sorry but all the free gift wrap in the world won't make things better. A sincere "Thank you" from our guest or a kind comment at City Hall might help.

[sediment]

Higher wages will attract more (and some better) applicants. All those nice kids at In-N-Out could be working for the Mouse.

[NeverNeverland]

Based on the CM last night who had NO idea what she was doing or if the restaurant even carried water... I'd say YES.

[EagleWings]

Well I'm going to go apply tomorrow and I'll report back on how it goes. But if they don't even talk to me because I'm under 18 (heck I'll be 18 in March) then they can't be hurting THAT BADLY for CMs.

[TENORDRUMMER]

You know it IS so sad to see the current situation for cast members. I remember when I first got hired into the park how difficult it was the how potential recruits were turned away in droves because they could not meet the requirements. But, I was one of the lucky ones, back in the day eveyone wanted to work at Walt's kingdom.

Most recently, I worked at the park at the PLaza Inn from 2000-2001 as a bussing lead. It was a lot of fun and we had a great crew too. But after 2 summers of doing the 2 job thing, I finally had to give Disney up because I worked myself to death (almost 80 hours a week). Also towarss my last few months there, there was a high attrition of cm's due to a variety of reasons. So, we were always short staffed and had to do the work (each) of 2-3 people, this also wore us out physically.

I would love to come back and work just part time, but casting will not even lift a finger to work around a person's full time schedule, which to me does not make any sense and then they want you to be fully available during the peak seasons. There has to be some give and take, especially in their current situation.

Also, I have to make this observation, what is up with those people in casting. They are an arrogant lot (with few exemptions), they walk around like their S#@% doesn't stink and for the most part are very unfriendly and unhelpful. I got a job offer last May and accepted it in attractions, went to fill out my paperwork and was scheduled to go to traditions, but at the last minute my full time job decided to not want me to go part time with them, so I had to give up my job acceptance. Fortunately, this did not affect my rehire status. I am so willing to let go of my current job and a pay reduction to go back to the park and a lot of my friends tell I am stupid, but to be honest I am looking for the long term and there are opportunitues for anyone who wants to take risks, that is what Walt did. Anyway, enough rambling on, I hope to return again some day, who knows, but I also hope the casting situation makes a turn for the better.

[seenoevil]

Yep! I'm one of those CMs that will be leaving soon. I've been working two jobs for 5 years and I can't take it any more. It's not that I have to work particulary long hours most of the time, but I don't like the uncertainty of WHERE I'm going to be working hanging over my head. When you check in for your shift, there's almost always last minute changes. If I don't get sent to DL or WOD, I'm left in the DCA shop alone, and most likely extended.

[TENORDRUMMER]

Wow, that really sucks. How can mgmt. not see the dissension going on here. Or are they just playing stupid and turning a blind eye, or better yet just plain stupid, period.!!!

I think the unions have really let the employees down too. They seem to be extremely weak and worthless. Man, what a shame.

[Rebel Justin]

We are hurting bad for people to work in the stores. Starting November 13th, they will be starting phase 3 of Presenteeism (a word made up by management to make us think about calling in before we do it). This new phase hurts anyone employed by them who do not recieve benefits. They will be unable to call out without recieving an attendance infraction. Scheduling has even sunk as low as calling CM's at HOME and double checking- "Are you sure you don't want daily overtime? Are you sure you don't want to work 6 days a week? Are you sure you don't want to work 7 days a week?" It sucks to work in a store where there are 13 registers and we only have the human power to run 6-7 of them (on a good day). The suits up in TDA have walked the park and closed small shops because the larger shops are not staffed propperly. And once Phase 3 starts, expect more shops to close. It's sad to see hard working CM's get fired (or "Term'd" in Disney-speak) because they are only able to call out less than 3% of the year (someone did the math). Many of the CM's are full-time college students who are also working 40+ hours a week. I just hate to see the direction that this is heading. They don't get that the people that are applying for Disney don't want a career there...they just need money to pay the bills until they are done with school. They just don't understand...

[melmel]

I'm going to HAVE to quit soon enough. I've got enough room to "call in" twice more before next JUNE.... it's just not enough. You can't expect people to be able to show up consistently 6 days a week, 60 hours a week and only let them call in 5 times a year, it's just not possible!