Crown associate manager/team lead come end of the month here! Also from NY, but given the description of your situation, pretty sure I'm not in your district.

Looking at the new pay bands for GMs... Woof. Given that the redcoats are keeping the promote-from-within philosophy, can you think of any reason at all that one would go into the theatre biz with the intention of having their own theatre? Especially if one has a college degree? I haven't seen any complexity 1 positions posted so idk what the pay bands are like for those theatres, but everything I've seen posted for GMs is... Well, less than motivating. Seems like the days of GMs pulling six figures is over.

Also, we're experiencing a marked dip in employee morale at my theatre. Has the experience been similar at your place?

Lastly, payroll has been a big thing at my theatre lately. Have you found this to be company-wide? We're a complexity 2, but have an "add-on" IMAX & RPX with their own concession stand. Our DM had to visit several theatres and have a sit down with the GMs so they could explain exactly why we literally could not run the business and make the payroll model.