To think Cinemas are trying to get rid of Staff?

[girlfriend44]

It's cheaper to book online than in person, at the Odeon.
Your charged alot more if you just turn up?
How is this fair to people who can't book.online or who don't want too?

Are they moving away from having staff? You'll.just turn up, scan your ticket and Walk in?

Everywhere is doing this, eventually humans won’t need to work because robots will do everything.

I was just reflecting that when there were a lot of staff in cinemas, it added to the atmosphere and experience. Now going to the cinema feels a bit sterile, regardless of the quality of the film. But factoring in wages, N.I, pensions and benefits, I understand why some employers are indirectly getting rid of staff, more and more, in this day and age.

I've still not been to my local Everyman but will do soon.

Remember once had an afternoon off and went to a local out of town multiplex. It was virtually deserted. There was something disturbingly post apocalyptic about it. So much noise, tv screens playing, confectionery/food counters but hardly anyone there. Creepy. Only two other people watching the film too.

They used to have people show you to your seat with a torch, you don't now. Take your own light.

So?

Well buying online means you're preplanning and less likely to just not go. Of you and Dave are thinking about the cinema, prebookiing to save money means they Def get the booking rather than a last minute change of heart.

But our local cinema is great. Always a couple on the sweets and popcorn, normally one on the bar, chef in the kitchen but he'll help serve if needed, one on the door checking tickets. Sometimes security but if there's trouble the staff will just help each other. Always someone in at the start of the show to do the rules.

Not always someone outside mid show but you'd only have to go downstairs or shout in an emergency. Usually no one around at the end of a late showing but I assume they're within hearing distance largely as that's the bar area.

You used to walk into a shop and be served the items you wanted from behind a counter, now you have to choose them from the shelf yourself. Or buy it online.

You used to pick up a phone and ask an operator to connect you, now you have to press the buttons or screen yourself.

You used to have people whose job it was to go up and down an elevator pressing buttons for people.

Times change, things move on.

pretty sure that at our cinema “the light” there is no option but to book online. There used to be touchscreens to let people book in the main lobby but they’ve gone now and everyone scans the tickets on their phones

Tbf there are still quite a few staff about but their priority is selling the food

Why do some on here always defend business as a default, it's a really weird trait.

We will probably soon have to show the movie ourselves

Love the sound of that
cinemas struggle to make a profit anything like this we go a small way to making it more viable

But there are loads of things that are only available online. Would you want retailers to have to open shops to provide everything that’s online?

For movies and telly, Netflix etc is only online. Do you think they should have to run a DVD delivery service too?

I’m old enough to remember split pricing in mail order ads. There’s nothing new about providing goods or services on different terms.

Is it?

Is it not normal tech progress?

It's weird not to embrace it, to be honest.

My local pub employs a couple of teenagers. They can't serve drinks of course but they can collect glasses and deliver food. The pier in town actually employs quite a number of under-16s on the amusements during the summer, something you don't see much these days because of the extra paperwork.

I'll keep some human interaction in my life, thanks. I love going into an independent shop and discussing my purchases with the family who own it. I steer clear of the big multiplexes and the last couple of films I saw at an actual cinema were at an arts venue in Chester and the Everyman in Liverpool.

Ever wonder why so many small independents with more staff go bust

Because they can't bully suppliers into wafer-thin margins like the corporate giants can. Just look at how the supermarkets treat farmers. And then wonder why they've got an egg shortage when the independent stores have plenty in stock.

Cinema is in trouble. 2 big chains (Empire, Cineworld) are in administration. Energy costs, rents, food prices (where they used to make their margin) are all making it unaffordable. Plus people got out of the habit in lockdown and many audiences aren't going back. Especially the older market who pay more for a nice experience, drinks & food and who also used to watch a lot of non-blockbuster films like drama and comedy and went to the cinema at different times of the day.

Cinemas always struggled to make a profit - but a film needs to a cinema release in order to make its budget back across digital and TV sales. It's now even more expensive, with fewer audiences and cost of living means people will pop into Tesco on the way to the cinema to buy cheap snacks rather than pay the premium.

Cinemas are actually having trouble recruiting staff rather than trying to get rid of them - it is a crowd control job - with gangs of teenagers, noisy kids, angry patrons, high risk of robbery / non-payment - all at minimum wage and with few other staff members on the ground to back them up - especially in out of town leisure parks.

She pays the appropriate price for the ticket she buys, and the method of buying it. It isn't a complaint.

But some people are obtuse enough to insist that everyone can book online, when actually they can't.