SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Teenagers looking for summer work as ride operators or food servers stood among recently laid-off adults at a crowded job fair organized by Cedar Park amusement park on Saturday. In normal economic times, only about 100 applicants turn up for Cedar Point's annual February interview day, said Leslie Bradshaw, the park's director of general services.
More than 500 people crammed the lobby at a Sandusky hotel on Saturday, some waiting for several hours for their chance to talk with representatives about the $7.30 to $9.50 an hour jobs, she said. The northern Ohio park has more than 4,500 openings for the summer positions, which include health care coverage. "Obviously it's the economy," said Bradshaw, who added she's received applications from engineers and people with MBAs. "Lots of people are looking for supplemental income."
U.S. theme parks will hire about 500,000 seasonal employees, about the same as last year, according to an estimate from The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. But the recession is driving a dramatic increase in applications, some from older workers. Ohio's unemployment rate hit 8.8 percent in January, the highest in more than 20 years. Earlier this month, thousands waited in long lines during a similar job fair at Kings Island, Cedar Point's sister park near Cincinnati. Kings Island has 4,000 summer jobs but expects to receive well over that number of applications. Last year, fewer than 2,500 people applied for those jobs.
Many of the Cedar Point jobseekers were local high school students, but plenty were nontraditional applicants – unemployed parents, teachers and part-timers who have had their hours reduced at other jobs and have struggled to pay their bills. Shelby Ritchie, 31, worked in information technology for four years until he was laid off in August. "I decided to at least have a job for the summer," said Ritchie of Tipton, Mich. "I don't feel too bad. A job's a job, right?" Applicants sat behind a maroon curtain during interviews, answering questions about their customer service experience.
Connie Kromer, a single mom hoping for a bus driver position, was among those waiting for her turn to impress. "It's nice to be at a place where they're hiring instead of slashing," the Castalia resident said.
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