Posted on 01/14/2024 5:41:24 AM PST by Kaiser8408a
Tennessee Ernie Ford sang it best with his hit “16 Tons.” Where he warbles the line “I sold my soul to the company store.
Well, Disney and Universal aren’t planning old coal-mining company stores … yet … but they are getting into the housing market.
Orlando, Florida, is on the front line of an industry trend as major employers like Universal and Disney look to close the area’s workforce housing gap.
For visitors, Universal Studios Florida offers a chance to visit a fantastical land full of wizards, Minions and various characters from NBC Universal’s many film and television properties. But for the roughly 28,000 men and women who work at the 840-acre theme park and resort complex in Orlando, the troubles of the real world — like the rising cost of housing — are not far away.
As housing costs in Central Florida have soared, the theme park giants have faced criticism for underpaying workers. In June, Universal raised its minimum wage by $2 to $17 an hour, while Disney, which employs 82,00 people in Florida, agreed to bump its starting hourly rate to $18 in 2024. Still, both lag behind the $18.85 that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator estimates would be needed to support an adult with no children in Orange County.
Here is the REAL problem with the lack of housing stock. Growth of new housing units has slowed to negative speeds as mortgage rates soared, but aren’t growing again with declining mortgage rates which remain relatively high. Add in the 11 million or so illegal immigrants crossing the border and we have a major problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at confoundedinterest.net ...
I grew up in a coal and steel mill valley where this was practiced, it is a horrible practice to have company homes!
“I OWE my soul to the company store”,
Correct lyrics per several lyric sites.
Many high end resorts stock their resorts with foreign employees that they rotate from resort to resort. American jobs will be replaced with this model.Canada does this as well.
Typically for Confounded Interest, the title of the article CONFOUNDS any possible understanding.
A friend of mine took a job at Cedar Point (amusement park in Ohio) many years ago. He made only $3.85 an hour (minimum wage was $3.35 at the time). It was my understanding that Cedar Point owned the apartment building he stayed at.
I know a lot of landlords don’t like to do short-term rentals.
I rode the Blue Streak back in ‘72.
Short/no line at the end of the day.
Rode it some more.
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