Adults join teens at jobs fair organized by Cedar Point

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — 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 Point 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.