ORLANDO, Fla. — One example of the struggles some Central Florida residents are going through is all the furloughed workers at the theme parks.
SeaWorld is back open seven days a week, but not all employees are back on the job.
Now some furloughed employees are worried after they saw their positions posted on SeaWorld's employment website while they're still waiting to be called back to work.
SeaWorld parks were closed. And companywide 90% of SeaWorld’s employees were furloughed, including Will Grant.
Grant worked at SeaWorld Orlando for seven years as a merchandise supervisor in several park shops.
“It’s a wonderful place. I love the people I work with. I love what SeaWorld stood for, rescuing the animals,” Grant said.
When the parks reopened in June, some employees were brought back to work.
Grant and others in his position have been watching and waiting, but still no call back, no hours and no benefits.
Grant said he understands the parks have taken a huge financial hit. But when he saw SeaWorld had posted an opening for his exact position he was taken aback.
Grant doesn't believe not getting called back is a job performance issue since he and others waiting received excellent annual reviews.
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A SeaWorld spokesperson released this statement:
“We value the hard work and dedication of all of our SeaWorld Parks Ambassadors. The current landscape, in which our parks are open with capacity limitations, reduced hours of operation and/or reduced operating days, has affected the number of Ambassadors that we have been able to return to work. We continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate our operations. We look to welcome more Ambassadors back as we are able to increase operational capacity.”
Cox Media Group
