Santa Cruz Boardwalk seeking employees

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION--TV) As Santa Cruz County continues to reopen its economy, more businesses are now opening their doors again, including at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Reopenings at the boardwalk could mean hundreds of job openings for potential workers.

For now, the boardwalk is open in a limited capacity with certain restaurants, shops and games.

On Wednesday, families and children at the boardwalk said they were just waiting for rides to reopen again.

"I like to go on the dragon one," says one 4-year-old resident. Her father agreed. “It’d be nice just for everyone to get back to some normalcy for the kids and families and the economy  and get everyone you know, locally, back to work," says her father, a Santa Cruz resident.

The good news for them is that officials say they are working on just that. So far, there is no word yet as to when the rides and attractions at the boardwalk will reopen to the public, but Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Spokesperson Kris Reyes says it all starts with hiring the people to run them.

“We’re hiring seasonal  employees to work at the boardwalk, as we reopen rides and attractions, we’re hiring ride operators, food service workers, games operators and a whole host of seasonal positions," says Reyes.

Reyes explains many boardwalk employees had to be laid-off because of pandemic closures and says this is the first time actively hiring employees in a year.

Typically, thousands of tourists flock to the famous attraction, so Reyes says this will also help the local economy.

“As we have a measured reopening of rides and attractions, it will certainly help the small businesses in the beach area that really rely on beach visitation to survive," says Reyes.

Reyes says protocols and other details still have to be worked out before deciding when rides and attractions will reopen.

More information on job openings can be found at https://beachboardwalk.com