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2026: General Discussion
Matt N
TS Member
I think it’s quite evident that the strategy of banking on the novelty and “prestige” of working in a theme park isn’t pulling people to work at Alton Towers, or at very least work there and stay there long-term, anymore.
This might have worked when times were, relatively speaking, “better” a decade or two ago and people could afford to do jobs out of passion alone, but in an era where bills are going up and money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, I think doing a job out of passion alone is a lot harder and people want something in return for their labour.
When you take the novelty of the theme park environment out of the equation, I see very little that would attract a skilled engineer, or even a teenager or young adult wanting a part-time job, to work at Alton Towers. If we look at it coldly and objectively, Alton Towers pays lowly, frequently offers unstable and inconsistent seasonal work, requires employees to work outdoors for large parts of the day whatever the weather, offers poor career progression, often requires employees to work unsociable hours (e.g. weekends, later nights, earlier mornings), often requires employees to be up on their feet and moving around for large amounts of the day and practically requires you to drive there or get lifts (and frequently long distances at that, if we go by the distance from the nearest cities or even moderately sized towns). If I were a local skilled engineer, I’d be putting my CV into somewhere like JCB over Alton Towers, where I could earn a likely larger salary, work sociable hours, be in a nice warm indoor environment, have better job security through guaranteed year-round employment and not drive as far, to name just a few plusses. If I were a local teenager or young adult, I’d be putting my CV into a supermarket or restaurant, where the establishment offers guaranteed year-round work, is likely closer to my house and keeps me indoors at very least. Or maybe one of those remote call centre-type jobs on LinkedIn, where I can sit in my bedroom and earn similar amounts of money!
The simple truth is that parks like Alton Towers thrive on having experience and employees with inbuilt years of knowledge. To ensure this going forward, they need to make the package more compelling to attract the right people in the first place and make them stay there!
This might have worked when times were, relatively speaking, “better” a decade or two ago and people could afford to do jobs out of passion alone, but in an era where bills are going up and money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, I think doing a job out of passion alone is a lot harder and people want something in return for their labour.
When you take the novelty of the theme park environment out of the equation, I see very little that would attract a skilled engineer, or even a teenager or young adult wanting a part-time job, to work at Alton Towers. If we look at it coldly and objectively, Alton Towers pays lowly, frequently offers unstable and inconsistent seasonal work, requires employees to work outdoors for large parts of the day whatever the weather, offers poor career progression, often requires employees to work unsociable hours (e.g. weekends, later nights, earlier mornings), often requires employees to be up on their feet and moving around for large amounts of the day and practically requires you to drive there or get lifts (and frequently long distances at that, if we go by the distance from the nearest cities or even moderately sized towns). If I were a local skilled engineer, I’d be putting my CV into somewhere like JCB over Alton Towers, where I could earn a likely larger salary, work sociable hours, be in a nice warm indoor environment, have better job security through guaranteed year-round employment and not drive as far, to name just a few plusses. If I were a local teenager or young adult, I’d be putting my CV into a supermarket or restaurant, where the establishment offers guaranteed year-round work, is likely closer to my house and keeps me indoors at very least. Or maybe one of those remote call centre-type jobs on LinkedIn, where I can sit in my bedroom and earn similar amounts of money!
The simple truth is that parks like Alton Towers thrive on having experience and employees with inbuilt years of knowledge. To ensure this going forward, they need to make the package more compelling to attract the right people in the first place and make them stay there!
John
TS Member
Minor comment on this point - the buses ran at peak arrival/departure hours only. We ended up walking back to the car park after discovering the bus wasn't running