10,000 Chinese workers to create magic at Shanghai Disney

Zhou Jian, a 26-year-old folk dancer, dreams of a stage career, and he said he believes the Magic Kingdom can help him get there.

Zhou recently made a 14-hour journey by train from inland Shanxi province, to attend a job fair in Shanghai, where he hoped to land work at Walt Disney Co's 389-hectare, $5.5-billion resort set to open on June 16. He covets a role in the Lion King musical production that will be performed in Mandarin for the first time.

"I want to be famous before I turn 30 years old," he said. "I've performed on big and small stages for several years and haven't made much progress. Disney is a world-famous brand. I thought it would be a very good stage for me."

Disney has been using brand cachet to its advantage during a four-year recruiting drive to staff up at Shanghai Disneyland. It's the company's sixth park worldwide, and Chief Executive Robert Iger called it the company's greatest business opportunity since founder Walt Disney bought land in central Florida in the 1960s.

It's also a massive management challenge. Iger said last year the park would employ about 10,000 workers in an economy where rapid-fire turnover and uneven customer service can be challenges for multinational corporations.

"The focus on customer service is very important for Disney, but there is still a huge gap between their standard and normal Chinese standards," said Sara Wong, Kelly Services' Hong Kong director of recruitment process outsourcing. "They are not hiring 10 people, they are hiring 10,000."