Cedar Point pay drops

SANDUSKY — Cedar Point amusement park cut its starting wage by 25% from what it was last year, but the pay remains almost $6 more than the state's minimum wage. Seasonal associates will earn $15 per hour for most non-tipped positions, the park announced Tuesday, and there are 6,500 of those jobs. Ohio's minimum wage is $9.30 per hour. "Cedar Point does a very good projection of the labor market and the realities of the market," said Joe Roman, executive director of the Greater Sandusky Partnership. "They realized what they had to do last year (with the higher wage) and they probably have a good idea what they need to do this year with wages." When the park announced in May 2021 that it was bumping its wage to $20 per hour it had a ripple effect on business across the area. Wages rose for jobs seasonal jobs and other jobs, not only here but in other areas. Prior to the 2021 season, the park was paying $10, and later $12 to $15 per hour. Roman said the park has shown in the past that it can change wages as it has to make sure the park is fully staffed. "They can always adjust, if necessary," he said. Bruce Weinberg, a professor of economics and public affairs at The Ohio State University, said the starting wage is significant. "It's a good salary by historic standards," Weinberg said. "For this (category) of workers — younger, not necessarily highly skilled — the demand is forcing the competition (among) employers for them." Cedar Point is obviously a huge operation, he said, echoing Roman's comment that the park and Cedar Fair, Cedar Point's parent company, likely has research or other information that indicates to park officials that $15 per hour will result in enough hires to operate the park as it enters its first season with fewer COVID restrictions. The park likely has the resources to pay a higher hourly wage than other area businesses, Weinberg said, and it is difficult to know what the short-term or long-term impacts on the local labor market could be. "The old saying, 'never make predictions, especially about the future' (is applicable)," he said. "I don't know if (this higher wage) is going to stick, or not." But there's been an upward trend for this portion of the labor force, he said, where pay levels have been exceeding the minimum wage. The positions the park is hiring for includes bartenders and servers (tipped positions); custodial; food and beverage guest services, hotel, ride operators and other jobs. The park offers on-site housing for eligible associates. In the past the amusement park has worked with recruiting agencies for international workers, sometimes hiring thousands each year from European and other parts of the world. Opening day at Cedar Point is May 7. Cedar Fair, the park's parent company, owns and operates 11 amusement parks, four separately gated outdoor water parks and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,300 rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites. The company's properties, in addition to Cedar Point, are Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, properties in California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Cedar Fair also operates an additional theme park in California under a management contract. Kings Island, the company's other Ohio amusement park, did not make a similar announcement about hiring and wages. Last year, in a news release, park officials there were looking to hire 4,000 associates for the 2021 season, but wages were not disclosed. Michigan Adventure, the other nearest park to Cedar Point, also did not have any similar announcement about hiring or wages as Cedar Point announced.