From the outside, summer at Orlando, Florida’s theme parks will probably look like business as usual: sunburnt tourists, intimidating lines and families making lifelong memories.
But behind the scenes, theme park workers will likely be straining to maintain the high standards Orlando’s attractions are known for.
Park staffing has largely recovered from early in the pandemic, when companies furloughed and laid off tens of thousands of employees, but it continues to trail pre-COVID totals even as workers have been recalled and new employees hired, according to industry experts and data.
Dennis Speigel, CEO of International Theme Park Services, estimated that Walt Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld are at about 85% to 90% staffing numbers in 2019. These levels are stronger than anticipated and a big improvement from early 2021, he said, but staffing still looms large.
“It’s our biggest issue facing the industry,” Speigel said.
In an unsigned statement, a Disney spokesperson did not comment on how the resort’s staffing levels are affecting operations but said the company offers competitive pay and benefits. Spokespeople for Universal and SeaWorld did not respond to messages.
All three companies have reported blockbuster quarters in recent months, reaching historically high revenue and earnings as tourists return to theme parks in force.
Even a slightly smaller workforce can have a big impact on park operations and employee morale, experts said. And every unfilled job counts when Orlando’s tourism numbers are poised to rival record-setting pre-pandemic figures with domestic travel picking up and international visitors returning.
Under these circumstances, theme parks are reaching a turning point in how they attract new workers and treat their existing ones in an industry heavily disrupted by the pandemic.
“I think there’s going to be trouble,” said Scott Smith, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. “... This is a watershed moment. This could be a great summer for us if we figure it out, or this could be a disastrous summer if we don’t.”
‘Tighter labor market’
As of April, Disney had 58,478 employees, Universal had 26,000 and SeaWorld had 4,929, according to data from the Orlando Economic Partnership using research conducted by the Orlando Business Journal.
An unnamed Disney spokesperson said Friday that the theme park currently employs 70,000 people. In September, spokeswoman Andrea Finger said over 50,000 employees had been recalled to work as the resort gradually reopened.
Pre-COVID, Disney employed about 77,000 people at its parks and Universal had about 27,000. SeaWorld’s theme park-specific numbers were not immediately available, but federal filings show the Orlando-based company had 4,300 full-time and 11,000 part-time employees at the end of 2019, plus about 3,900 seasonal workers.
After reporting near-record profits in a February earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company has not had “too big of an issue” attracting or retaining park employees, with 85% of workers returning when asked.
But the company had difficulty filling hospitality and food and beverage jobs, a problem that has factored into Disney’s continuing efforts to limit crowds, he said. In May, CFO Christine McCarthy said Disney was dealing with “rising wages” and a “tighter labor market.”
Executives for Universal’s parent company, Comcast, have not mentioned staffing concerns in recent months.
SeaWorld CEO Marc Swanson said the company has faced “staffing and wage challenges” lately amid record revenue, and it has had to cut back on some park operations because of short-staffing.
SeaWorld is working to draw international employees to fill vacancies, he said. With inflation increasing its labor costs, the company also is looking to expand worker benefits.
“It’s not always wage that drives people to your company or retains them,” Swanson said in February.
Theme parks are just one sector of the state’s hospitality industry desperate for employees as many former workers seek jobs with better pay, flexibility and benefits.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association continues to see staffing shortages across Central Florida’s restaurants and hotels, Communications Director Ashley Chambers said in an email. Restaurants, in particular, are 30% to 40% short on staff.
“Overall, we are seeing increased business levels but not a significant corresponding return of work force,” Chambers wrote.
Still, leisure and hospitality remains Orlando’s top industry by employment, with about 253,600 workers in March, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership.
Jobs continue to grow statewide, too. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity tracked 152,300 additional jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry in April over the year before.
Changes needed, unions say
Jeremy Haicken, president of Unite Here Local 737, said Disney’s total housekeeping and food & beverage workforce has almost returned to pre-COVID levels. Local 737 represented 18,099 total workers in January 2020. Today, it represents 17,691, he said.
That data does not reflect turnover in these positions, which he said is “very high” compared to pre-pandemic. Union data showed that at least 5,000 new people have been hired in those roles since the parks reopened, though that figure is likely higher.
Pay is probably a big reason for the high turnover, Haicken said. The union coalition won historic raises in 2018 to reach a base rate of $15 per hour, but inflation and rising housing costs have offset these gains.
“There’s just an enormous amount of stress and tension for hospitality workers in general in that economic environment,” Haicken said.
The unnamed Disney spokesperson said starting wages reach up to $21 an hour for certain positions.
The Service Trades Council Union, which represents around 41,000 Disney workers, will renegotiate its contract this year. Union leaders said pay and benefit increases are a priority in negotiations.
Another affiliate of the union, Unite Here Local 362, represents Disney’s attractions and custodial employees, among others. Its number of full- and part-time workers has grown by 750 people since summer 2019 to a total of around 8,500 employees, President Eric Clinton said.
To meet the resort’s needs, he said Disney would need to hire an additional 500 to 1,000 people in attractions and custodial.
Employee overtime has increased as the resort has gotten busier, Clinton said. The resort needs more staff, even with the resumption of the Disney College Program internships last June and upcoming phased return of international workers starting in August.
“The employment market has made it difficult for them to hire enough people to be able to fill all the open positions,” he said. “And they’re certainly hiring lots of people — we know that because we get to talk to new workers as they get hired — but it’s not enough to keep up with the demand.”
Clinton said he has seen employee shortages and high turnover at Disney before in over two decades of working with the union, but the current employment situation is the “most pronounced” because of record inflation.
Disney employees strive to preserve the “show” at the parks despite the circumstances. Guests visiting this summer will probably not notice anything different, Clinton said.
“Disney, like they always have, will figure out a way to put on the best product and experience for the guests with our members doing the work,” he said.
‘A call to action’
Short-staffing across the theme park industry could last into 2023 or beyond, Speigel said, but that timeline hinges on how this summer season goes.
Orlando’s theme parks are still recruiting actively, with Disney and Universal holding job fairs in recent weeks and Disney and SeaWorld advertising hiring bonuses upwards of $1,000 for specific positions.
But the biggest steps they could take to attract new workers and retain existing ones is raise their wages and improve their benefits, union leaders and Smith said.
Businesses have to be careful in raising employee wages, which typically make up 40% to 50% of operating expenses for theme parks, Speigel said. Companies can overextend themselves, like Ohio’s Cedar Point did when it had to roll back starting wages from $20 to $15 an hour less than a year after raising the rate.
Employees are also looking for better benefits, a healthy work environment and improved work-life balance. A University of Central Florida study published last year found hospitality workers nationwide were dissatisfied with these aspects of their careers, and researchers cautioned the industry could face a “long-term labor supply shortage” if it ignored employee concerns.
One of the more helpful benefits theme parks could offer is low-cost employee housing, said Smith, who worked in attractions and hotel operations at Disney for nine years. Both Disney and Universal have released preliminary plans for affordable housing developments in recent months.
Companies could also offer comprehensive free tuition programs like that announced by Tennessee theme park Dollywood earlier this year, he said. Disney is the only Orlando theme park to offer education benefits to qualifying employees upfront, though Universal and SeaWorld offer tuition reimbursement.
“Companies like Disney and Universal that really do have a lot of resources — and every year they have record earnings and they talk about how wonderful the financial performance is — they really need to stop and think about how they can take care of the workers ... because it’s not a sustainable model,” Smith said.
In the coming years, experts said the theme park industry will increasingly turn to automation to fill employment gaps. It could appear as simple as mobile check-in for hotels, which has become widespread during the pandemic, or look as futuristic as robot security guards, which the Six Flags company began testing at select parks earlier this year.
“It’s a couple of years away, I think, before we see it big-time in the industry,” Speigel said.
Smith stressed that automation should be used to make existing jobs more efficient, not to replace existing workers. Along with increasing pay and benefits, it is just one possible tool the hospitality field could use to address staffing issues.
“This is kind of a call to action for the industry,” he said. “We need to figure this out, because our industry is in danger.”
