ORLANDO, Fla. – For people entering or already in the workforce without a degree or vocational training, options for finding a job with a starting wage at or near $15 an hour in Central Florida are limited. However, they are improving.
Earlier in September, Disney and unions representing a majority of Disney World’s 74,000 workers reached an agreement to increase the new minimum wage at Disney parks to $15 by 2021. However, that is three years away. There are jobs you can get right now that will get you close to $15 an hour as a starting wage.
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The following jobs are available in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan areas and require a GED or high school diploma. The information on the entry-level wages is provided by the Department of Economic Opportunity.
Wood sawing machine setters, operators and tenders:
This job requires workers to set up and monitor wood cutting machines. These workers may also operate computer numerical control (CNC) cutting machines, which use computer aided design (CAD) files to perform intricate or precise cuts.
Starting wage: $14.09 per hour
Transportation equipment painters:
In this line of work, you could be painting everything from cars to buses, even trains, boats and airplanes. This includes painters at auto body shops.
Starting wage: $14.38 per hour
Brokerage clerk:
This is something of a secretarial position surrounding the buying, selling and holding of securities, such as stocks or bonds. A brokerage clerk will write orders for stock purchases or sales, verify transactions and keep records of daily transactions, among other duties.
Starting Wage: $15.10 per hour
Procurement clerk:
Also a secretarial position, but this position keeps track of logistics and supplies. Procurement clerks, also known as purchasing assistants, will compile information and records used to make purchase orders for materials and services. This may also include contacting suppliers to schedule deliveries or to account for shortages in supplies or missed deliveries.
Starting wage: $15.15 per hour
Riggers:
This position crosses over into several industries, such as construction, logging, ships and shipyards and the entertainment industry. Riggers specialize in the lifting, hauling and securing of heavy loads. This may include attaching construction materials to cranes or it could include raising and securing a lighting structure for a stage production.
Starting Wage: $15.73
There are more jobs with a $15 per hour minimum wage coming to the Orlando area.
In addition to Disney, Amazon announced that it will pay all of its employees $15 per hour starting Nov. 1. Target plans to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2020. Unions representing workers at Orlando International Airport are also working to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour.
In December, workers at SeaWorld's Orlando theme parks, including Aquatica, saw a new minimum wage. Company officials said it raised the starting wage for hourly workers to $11 an hour from $10 an hour.
Following Disney’s pay raise, News 6 contacted the other area theme parks to see if they plan to do the same. Universal Orlando officials issued a statement, saying they work to keep their pay “competitive.” Universal Orlando also announced it will be increasing its base pay to $12 in February.