Slack Attendance Means Layoffs at Knott’s

Knott’s Berry Farm laid off 30 people Tuesday as the recession put a dent in the amusement park’s attendance.

Knott’s said the layoff was its first in years involving permanent employees. Part-timers are laid off each fall as the theme park’s employment drops from 3,500 for the peak summer season to 1,500 in winter.

No further layoffs of permanent employees are planned, Knott’s said.

The action was recommended, a spokesman said, by the first management study in the history of the 60-year-old tourist attraction. The study, which began in January, found 30 permanent jobs that included “redundancies or overlap of responsibilities,” said Stuart Zanville, the park’s director of public relations.

Few of those laid off Tuesday were managers, Zanville said.

Knott’s said that tourists, who account for half of its attendance, just aren’t visiting Southern California while the recession wears on.