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I'm using $15/hr and $7.25/hr in "value" for convenience here (though I didn't make that clear). Really, I mean $15/hr plus benefits + overhead + margin. But,

by Zanni 8y ago

I'm using $15/hr and $7.25/hr in "value" for convenience here (though I didn't make that clear). Really, I mean $15/hr plus benefits + overhead + margin. But, to my argument, I think that jobs will have to change. I'm regularly appalled by the quality of the service at fast food places: trash overflowing, dirty tables, dirty bathrooms, slow order taking, incorrect order taking, etc. Okay, you can't get the best employees for minimum wage, and some spreadsheet probably figured that the loss in customers due to poor service is more than made up for by the low cost of workers. Once that cost is cranked up, that cost/benefit ratio changes, and better service will be expected. Yay! That's a good thing. For employees that can deliver it. But for those that can't, especially those that struggle with English (many, where I live), they're going to be cost/benefited out of a job.

starbeast 8y ago
Fast food has good margins and a customer base that is surprisingly price insensitive, beyond that of choosing where to eat out. People who have time, skill, or inclination to cook at home usually already are, and those who are not take a lot of convincing to change their habits. I very much doubt that at the level of fast food employee on minimum wage, you will see all that much of a change in the job, or for the people in those jobs to change all that much, purely because of a hike in minimum wage at that level. Of course, if minimum wages were inflated high enough to make fast food businesses in general unprofitable, and not just the badly run ones, then this would cause economic problems, but I am not aware of this situation having occurred anywhere. If someone can tell me of a jurisdiction where McDonald's cannot run a restaurant, due to minimum wages being too high, then I'd love to hear, but it would seem to be an extreme exception, if it happens at all.

by Zanni 8y ago

starbeast 8y ago

Fast food has good margins and a customer base that is surprisingly price insensitive, beyond that of choosing where to eat out. People who have time, skill, or inclination to cook at home usually already are, and those who are not take a lot of convincing to change their habits. I very much doubt that at the level of fast food employee on minimum wage, you will see all that much of a change in the job, or for the people in those jobs to change all that much, purely because of a hike in minimum wage at that level. Of course, if minimum wages were inflated high enough to make fast food businesses in general unprofitable, and not just the badly run ones, then this would cause economic problems, but I am not aware of this situation having occurred anywhere. If someone can tell me of a jurisdiction where McDonald's cannot run a restaurant, due to minimum wages being too high, then I'd love to hear, but it would seem to be an extreme exception, if it happens at all.