Yes, I've checked to see where they are while my sim is at the festival. There are usually a few on the water, but most of them are at home or at other community lots. My sim has no problem with finding plenty of other sims if she goes to the gym, the library, or even the small park across the road from the grocery store. It's only the festival lot that's empty.
Regarding the resort, I checked the shifts at the desk, and found that all three are enabled. I hired another sim, but still nobody came. This is not the first time I've played in IP, but while I've always had the issue with the festival lot, I've never had this problem with the resorts before.