7 ms·

Chipotle bumps pay to 15$, adds benefits in push to hire 20k

47 points by cwwc 5y ago

bern4444 5y ago
Who would have thought. Amongst all the companies complaining they can’t find workers, they seem to all maintain a truly massive cognitive dissonance and lack of complete self reflection. Good for Chipotle for demonstrating actual leadership. If anyone here is a fan of the tv show The West Wing, I always like the quote You are so fond of calling yourselves the "leaders of the free world." So, lead. I feel companies often so enjoy calling themselves and being called leaders in their industry but they forget to actually lead and demonstrate leadership
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Chipotle has repeatedly been found to perform wage theft at scale, so let’s not get excited too quickly until the results are in.
  - pmiller2 5y ago
    You just described the entire food service industry. Chipotle is far from the only offender, or even the only big offender.
    - bigyikes 5y ago
      Can confirm, had wages stolen while working as a waiter.
- 07121941 5y ago
  https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/amazon-renews-call-15-dollar-federal-minimum-wage/#:~:text=In%20CEO%20Jeff%20Bezos'%202018,competition%20that%20will%20benefit%20everyone.%E2%80%9D https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/amazon-renews-call-15... I'm no economist, but I'm pretty sure this just out prices small businesses. Bigger businesses can take the strain and get some great PR.
  - bern4444 5y ago
    A fair point. Perhaps it will also outprice other similar sized businesses too though
  - kevinventullo 5y ago
    One could view this as the efficiency gains due to economies of scale being passed on to workers.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    Good, let's free up capital for enterprises that can better compensate workers.
    - Proven 5y ago
      wut? when was that not the case in the US? have top wages ever been capped? you completely misunderstand what's going on.
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    This sounds like capitalism at work! And, not in a bad way for once haha. I've always found it interesting that the plague was one of the major drivers of the elimination of serfdom in western Europe. When half the population died, workers suddenly found themselves in high demand. They were able to demand better working conditions and dramatically higher wages. [1] I'm hoping for a softer version of this in high unemployment payments. Personally, I'm ok with business who can't afford to pay employees a living wage going under and being replaced by ones that are willing to. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Deat...
    - bern4444 5y ago
      I agree with you a good bit as well. This is a rare opportunity where employees have a slight upper hand and don't have to be dictated to for once. I think what many businesses of all sizes often forget is that you get back what you give, usually as a multiple. Further, this increased return is often overlooked or ignored since its not immediately measurable until the action (increasing employees' pay) is taken. The flip side being, an increase in wages is an immediately determinable cost and so becomes the initial focus.
- proc0 5y ago
  IMHO, the problem here is they could have done this before. Forcing them to do so has wider implications for smaller companies, so maybe the real solution could have been some way to specify which kind of companies should have a minimum wage. I think Chipotle is in a position to do this while many other companies wil ljust have to eliminate positions.
  - true_religion 5y ago
    The minimum wage already eliminates positions. It’s just that thanks to inflation, every year more and more tenuous jobs can be made available since the minimum wage doesn’t track the rising revenue. Given enough time, the minimum wage would simply cease to be impactful. We should reset the minimum wage to at least levels on par with what it would be inflation adjusted. That impact on the economy was the intention of the law in the first place. Jobs that are lost are jobs we never intended to exist in the first place. Remember, you can still do lower than minimum wage work if you work for yourself. With a hiked wage, no longer will corporations be able to capture this section of the market, and instead small businesses can do it instead which would be more stimulative for the economy.
    - proc0 5y ago
      > Jobs that are lost are jobs we never intended to exist in the first place. I'm not so sure of that, we couldn't possibly assess the full impact here, but I guess we'll see what happens. I would think constraining large companies only would be the solution here, and small companies have more options because presumably the employer and employee relationship is much tighter and they can sort things out better. Hope it works out for the best.
    - thatguy0900 5y ago
      Wasn't the original minimum wage meant to support a family on one income? Is that really a realistic goal in a modern two worker family setting?
      - bern4444 5y ago
perl4ever 5y ago
I just heard an ad on the radio from a local grocery store chain, advertising jobs in their warehouse and saying they pay $20/hr, have benefits, insurance, etc. A number of businesses have signs on the doors saying they are hiring at $15/hr - I think Burger King, Home Depot... It's disappointing that when Republicans say unemployment benefits are preventing people from going back to work, that Democrats just deny it - they should say "yes of course, that's the point!" And then go on to explain why it's good for the economy and idolatry of unemployment numbers is wrong.
- neither_color 5y ago
  On the flip side the costs of many essentials are going up and the fewer people employed at the higher prices will be buying less with their 2021 $15 than they could've with their 2019 $15, but if people are satisfied with simply seeing a higher numerical value on their paycheck so be it. https://www.wsj.com/articles/consumers-adjust-to-higher-prices-11620552601 https://www.wsj.com/articles/consumers-adjust-to-higher-pric...
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    > 2021 $15 than they could've with their 2019 $15 Still far more than they would have been buying with the $7.25/hr of course. These wage increases are almost certainly net welfare enhancing due to diminishing marginal utility of the dollar.
    - arcticbull 5y ago
      Not to mention, the Fed has tools to counter inflation, which they will almost certainly deploy.
      - zodiakzz 5y ago
        Noob question: What does that consist of (other than halting currency printing)?
listenallyall 5y ago
Headline should clarify AVERAGE (not starting or minimum) pay = $15/hour. Lots of individuals will still earn less
- dharmab 5y ago
  > The wage increase for new and existing hourly and salaried employees will be implemented over the next few weeks, the company said. The upgraded pay scale will result in hourly employees earning starting wages ranging from $11 to $18.
  - listenallyall 5y ago
    ...confirming my point
    - snypher 5y ago
      I wouldn't even call it average. In my experience most people will be getting $11.
      - listenallyall 5y ago
        My comment, claiming $15 was the average, was based off of the first sentence of the linked article: "Facing an industry-wide labor shortage, fast food chain Chipotle is bumping up its average pay to $15 an hour by the end of June, resulting in wages of $11 to $18 an hour"
randompwd 5y ago
Headline is editorialized and false: > The upgraded pay scale will result in hourly employees earning starting wages ranging from $11 to $18.
- cwwc 5y ago
  sorry -- you're right
canadianfella 5y ago
$15/hour

47 points by cwwc 5y ago

Who would have thought. Amongst all the companies complaining they can’t find workers, they seem to all maintain a truly massive cognitive dissonance and lack of complete self reflection. Good for Chipotle for demonstrating actual leadership. If anyone here is a fan of the tv show The West Wing, I always like the quote You are so fond of calling yourselves the "leaders of the free world." So, lead. I feel companies often so enjoy calling themselves and being called leaders in their industry but they forget to actually lead and demonstrate leadership

toomuchtodo 5y ago
Chipotle has repeatedly been found to perform wage theft at scale, so let’s not get excited too quickly until the results are in.
- pmiller2 5y ago
  You just described the entire food service industry. Chipotle is far from the only offender, or even the only big offender.
  - bigyikes 5y ago
    Can confirm, had wages stolen while working as a waiter.
07121941 5y ago
https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/amazon-renews-call-15-dollar-federal-minimum-wage/#:~:text=In%20CEO%20Jeff%20Bezos'%202018,competition%20that%20will%20benefit%20everyone.%E2%80%9D https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/amazon-renews-call-15... I'm no economist, but I'm pretty sure this just out prices small businesses. Bigger businesses can take the strain and get some great PR.
- bern4444 5y ago
  A fair point. Perhaps it will also outprice other similar sized businesses too though
- kevinventullo 5y ago
  One could view this as the efficiency gains due to economies of scale being passed on to workers.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  Good, let's free up capital for enterprises that can better compensate workers.
  - Proven 5y ago
    wut? when was that not the case in the US? have top wages ever been capped? you completely misunderstand what's going on.
- arcticbull 5y ago
  This sounds like capitalism at work! And, not in a bad way for once haha. I've always found it interesting that the plague was one of the major drivers of the elimination of serfdom in western Europe. When half the population died, workers suddenly found themselves in high demand. They were able to demand better working conditions and dramatically higher wages. [1] I'm hoping for a softer version of this in high unemployment payments. Personally, I'm ok with business who can't afford to pay employees a living wage going under and being replaced by ones that are willing to. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Deat...
  - bern4444 5y ago
    I agree with you a good bit as well. This is a rare opportunity where employees have a slight upper hand and don't have to be dictated to for once. I think what many businesses of all sizes often forget is that you get back what you give, usually as a multiple. Further, this increased return is often overlooked or ignored since its not immediately measurable until the action (increasing employees' pay) is taken. The flip side being, an increase in wages is an immediately determinable cost and so becomes the initial focus.
proc0 5y ago
IMHO, the problem here is they could have done this before. Forcing them to do so has wider implications for smaller companies, so maybe the real solution could have been some way to specify which kind of companies should have a minimum wage. I think Chipotle is in a position to do this while many other companies wil ljust have to eliminate positions.
- true_religion 5y ago
  The minimum wage already eliminates positions. It’s just that thanks to inflation, every year more and more tenuous jobs can be made available since the minimum wage doesn’t track the rising revenue. Given enough time, the minimum wage would simply cease to be impactful. We should reset the minimum wage to at least levels on par with what it would be inflation adjusted. That impact on the economy was the intention of the law in the first place. Jobs that are lost are jobs we never intended to exist in the first place. Remember, you can still do lower than minimum wage work if you work for yourself. With a hiked wage, no longer will corporations be able to capture this section of the market, and instead small businesses can do it instead which would be more stimulative for the economy.
  - proc0 5y ago
    > Jobs that are lost are jobs we never intended to exist in the first place. I'm not so sure of that, we couldn't possibly assess the full impact here, but I guess we'll see what happens. I would think constraining large companies only would be the solution here, and small companies have more options because presumably the employer and employee relationship is much tighter and they can sort things out better. Hope it works out for the best.
  - thatguy0900 5y ago
    Wasn't the original minimum wage meant to support a family on one income? Is that really a realistic goal in a modern two worker family setting?
    - bern4444 5y ago

perl4ever 5y ago

I just heard an ad on the radio from a local grocery store chain, advertising jobs in their warehouse and saying they pay $20/hr, have benefits, insurance, etc. A number of businesses have signs on the doors saying they are hiring at $15/hr - I think Burger King, Home Depot... It's disappointing that when Republicans say unemployment benefits are preventing people from going back to work, that Democrats just deny it - they should say "yes of course, that's the point!" And then go on to explain why it's good for the economy and idolatry of unemployment numbers is wrong.

neither_color 5y ago
On the flip side the costs of many essentials are going up and the fewer people employed at the higher prices will be buying less with their 2021 $15 than they could've with their 2019 $15, but if people are satisfied with simply seeing a higher numerical value on their paycheck so be it. https://www.wsj.com/articles/consumers-adjust-to-higher-prices-11620552601 https://www.wsj.com/articles/consumers-adjust-to-higher-pric...
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  > 2021 $15 than they could've with their 2019 $15 Still far more than they would have been buying with the $7.25/hr of course. These wage increases are almost certainly net welfare enhancing due to diminishing marginal utility of the dollar.
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    Not to mention, the Fed has tools to counter inflation, which they will almost certainly deploy.
    - zodiakzz 5y ago
      Noob question: What does that consist of (other than halting currency printing)?

listenallyall 5y ago

Headline should clarify AVERAGE (not starting or minimum) pay = $15/hour. Lots of individuals will still earn less

dharmab 5y ago
> The wage increase for new and existing hourly and salaried employees will be implemented over the next few weeks, the company said. The upgraded pay scale will result in hourly employees earning starting wages ranging from $11 to $18.
- listenallyall 5y ago
  ...confirming my point
  - snypher 5y ago
    I wouldn't even call it average. In my experience most people will be getting $11.
    - listenallyall 5y ago
      My comment, claiming $15 was the average, was based off of the first sentence of the linked article: "Facing an industry-wide labor shortage, fast food chain Chipotle is bumping up its average pay to $15 an hour by the end of June, resulting in wages of $11 to $18 an hour"

randompwd 5y ago

Headline is editorialized and false: > The upgraded pay scale will result in hourly employees earning starting wages ranging from $11 to $18.

cwwc 5y ago
sorry -- you're right

canadianfella 5y ago

$15/hour