5 ms·

Florida restaurant shuts down after being left with 4 employees

11 points by jmartrican 5y ago

mbfg 5y ago
Seems like $10/hr isn't good enough to work in a smokey/greasy/hot kitchen... who knew?
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  It certainly isn't when your 2021 rent is 40%-120% higher than your 2019 rent. Those are the lucky folks btw. Beyond them are folks who are competing with hundreds of other rental applicants - likely because their rental was just sold. Folks with cash in the bank are facing homelessness. ref: C.Fl Renter
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
What the restaurant owner isn't mentioning is that employees likely can't afford to live within commuting distance of their business. Central Florida is seeing the fastest-rising rents in the nation along with an unprecedented shortage of properties to rent. Rental listings typically gets hundreds of applicants per day. Home purchases aren't faring any better. ref: https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-area-rent-increase-outpaces-rest-of-u-s https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-area-rent-increase-...
- ctrlp 5y ago
  Many people are fleeing to Florida for political asylum.
  - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
    This isn't true in any meaningful sense. The influx are cash-fat transplants from even more expensive areas. I do applaud the use of Politics and Asylum in the same sentence. FL politics are a whole lot like FL State Mental Institutions.
    - ctrlp 5y ago
      How many people would have to emigrate to FL because of dissatisfaction with the way their state is run for you to consider it meaningful?
      - toomuchtodo 5y ago
        As elections occur and Florida residents vote less conservative representatives in, would that not provide signal that they moved to Florida for reasons other than dissatisfaction with the policies of the state they relocated from? For example, you can support progressive policies but not want to pay bloated public pension obligations that were locked in decades ago (ie Illinois and New Jersey) or you're looking for more affordable housing (because there's only so much land to go around). Jobs in major metros in Florida are also pulling people into the state. Also, many who move to Florida are near or at retirement age, and while they likely lean conservative, their duration in the electorate is less than younger voters.
        kbelder 5y ago
        New Yorkers move to Florida; both states become less conservative. It's like that old joke about switching parties and the average IQ in both dropping.
        ctrlp 5y ago
        It's a common joke that people wreck their home states voting for progressive policies, then flee the effects to more conservative states, but forget to leave their voting habits behind. I don't actually agree that you can support progressive policies but not want to pay bloated public pension obligations, at least if you want to be consistent. The essential nature of progressive policies necessitates large state obligations and thereby creates individuals dependent on the state. It's a vicious cycle that centralizes more and more power in the state.
        WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
        It works both ways. The last 5 years of living in FL have pushed me hard to reverse my 30 years of ~R-Only voting habits.
  - echoradio 5y ago
    Native Floridian. They’re coming because there is no state income tax and the most significant taxation hits tourists (hotel, rental cars, property tax on vacation homes, etc.). The winter weather isn’t bad, either. ;) Property tax is probably the highest tax for a resident who owns a home, and even so, it tends to be much less than many other places. There’s a misconception Florida is an inexpensive place to live. I hear it all the time from newcomers. It is becoming increasingly expensive for general cost of living, housing and insurance. Home prices now exceed where they were 15 years ago during the real estate bubble. Also, the state doesn’t invest in nearly the amount of infrastructure it should for the number people here. For instance, hurricanes are a threat to the entire state, yet there are numerous counties in the panhandle which have no hurricane shelter, and those which do often have one only rated for a Cat 2 storm. Hurricane Michael hit the region in 2018 as a Cat 5. Unfortunately, it will probably take a massive environmental disaster (hurricane, red tide, climate change) to convince the all but the most hardened individuals Florida wasn’t a good place to move to.
    - ctrlp 5y ago
      I should probably have put some sarcasm markers on my initial comment. I have nothing for/against FL, it seems like a nice enough place to visit/live. I suspect almost all of the new arrivals are there for the classic reasons. Same probably goes for any inflow states.
masterof0 5y ago
> Despite paying more than any restaurant I am aware of, no one wants to work LOL, sure. That's why everyone - 4 left, because you paid more. I wonder if the staff that left is working now in another place that "pay less".
toomuchtodo 5y ago
> When contacted by Insider, McKinnon wouldn't say exactly how much staff were paid, but said hourly employers were paid "in double digits." Winter Park managers were paid at the level of "high end" restaurants or better, she said. > Florida stopped paying the benefits, including a $300 weekly payment, in late June. Mark Wilson, CEO of Florida's Chamber of Commerce, said that the decision would "help fill thousands of these vacancies and aid in ending the worker shortage throughout the state." > Companies in Florida, and other states that cut benefits early, have said that they're still struggling to find staff months later.
- effingwewt 5y ago
  I can't figure out why this is downvoted it's exactly what happened. They thought ending the UI benefits would magically force people back into jobs they hate. Problem is- when every job pays min wage, people are now looking for ones where they won't be fired/laid off if we have a covid resurgence, as well as the jobs that treat them the least like crap, and have a steady schedule. These foodservice jobs have always been some of the worst, they are just now getting their comeuppance. We should have never let them allay the wages of their waitstaff via tips either.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
peanut_worm 5y ago
There is almost no point in working a job that pays under 20 dollars an hour in Florida. Rent here is skyrocketing and there is practically no public transport. Most restaurants here pay between 10 and 15 dollars an hour which just isn’t even worth it anymore.

11 points by jmartrican 5y ago

mbfg 5y ago

Seems like $10/hr isn't good enough to work in a smokey/greasy/hot kitchen... who knew?

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
It certainly isn't when your 2021 rent is 40%-120% higher than your 2019 rent. Those are the lucky folks btw. Beyond them are folks who are competing with hundreds of other rental applicants - likely because their rental was just sold. Folks with cash in the bank are facing homelessness. ref: C.Fl Renter

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago

What the restaurant owner isn't mentioning is that employees likely can't afford to live within commuting distance of their business. Central Florida is seeing the fastest-rising rents in the nation along with an unprecedented shortage of properties to rent. Rental listings typically gets hundreds of applicants per day. Home purchases aren't faring any better. ref: https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-area-rent-increase-outpaces-rest-of-u-s https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-bay-area-rent-increase-...

ctrlp 5y ago
Many people are fleeing to Florida for political asylum.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  This isn't true in any meaningful sense. The influx are cash-fat transplants from even more expensive areas. I do applaud the use of Politics and Asylum in the same sentence. FL politics are a whole lot like FL State Mental Institutions.
  - ctrlp 5y ago
    How many people would have to emigrate to FL because of dissatisfaction with the way their state is run for you to consider it meaningful?
    - toomuchtodo 5y ago
      As elections occur and Florida residents vote less conservative representatives in, would that not provide signal that they moved to Florida for reasons other than dissatisfaction with the policies of the state they relocated from? For example, you can support progressive policies but not want to pay bloated public pension obligations that were locked in decades ago (ie Illinois and New Jersey) or you're looking for more affordable housing (because there's only so much land to go around). Jobs in major metros in Florida are also pulling people into the state. Also, many who move to Florida are near or at retirement age, and while they likely lean conservative, their duration in the electorate is less than younger voters.
      - kbelder 5y ago
        New Yorkers move to Florida; both states become less conservative. It's like that old joke about switching parties and the average IQ in both dropping.
      - ctrlp 5y ago
        It's a common joke that people wreck their home states voting for progressive policies, then flee the effects to more conservative states, but forget to leave their voting habits behind. I don't actually agree that you can support progressive policies but not want to pay bloated public pension obligations, at least if you want to be consistent. The essential nature of progressive policies necessitates large state obligations and thereby creates individuals dependent on the state. It's a vicious cycle that centralizes more and more power in the state.
        WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
        It works both ways. The last 5 years of living in FL have pushed me hard to reverse my 30 years of ~R-Only voting habits.
- echoradio 5y ago
  Native Floridian. They’re coming because there is no state income tax and the most significant taxation hits tourists (hotel, rental cars, property tax on vacation homes, etc.). The winter weather isn’t bad, either. ;) Property tax is probably the highest tax for a resident who owns a home, and even so, it tends to be much less than many other places. There’s a misconception Florida is an inexpensive place to live. I hear it all the time from newcomers. It is becoming increasingly expensive for general cost of living, housing and insurance. Home prices now exceed where they were 15 years ago during the real estate bubble. Also, the state doesn’t invest in nearly the amount of infrastructure it should for the number people here. For instance, hurricanes are a threat to the entire state, yet there are numerous counties in the panhandle which have no hurricane shelter, and those which do often have one only rated for a Cat 2 storm. Hurricane Michael hit the region in 2018 as a Cat 5. Unfortunately, it will probably take a massive environmental disaster (hurricane, red tide, climate change) to convince the all but the most hardened individuals Florida wasn’t a good place to move to.
  - ctrlp 5y ago
    I should probably have put some sarcasm markers on my initial comment. I have nothing for/against FL, it seems like a nice enough place to visit/live. I suspect almost all of the new arrivals are there for the classic reasons. Same probably goes for any inflow states.

masterof0 5y ago

> Despite paying more than any restaurant I am aware of, no one wants to work LOL, sure. That's why everyone - 4 left, because you paid more. I wonder if the staff that left is working now in another place that "pay less".

toomuchtodo 5y ago

> When contacted by Insider, McKinnon wouldn't say exactly how much staff were paid, but said hourly employers were paid "in double digits." Winter Park managers were paid at the level of "high end" restaurants or better, she said. > Florida stopped paying the benefits, including a $300 weekly payment, in late June. Mark Wilson, CEO of Florida's Chamber of Commerce, said that the decision would "help fill thousands of these vacancies and aid in ending the worker shortage throughout the state." > Companies in Florida, and other states that cut benefits early, have said that they're still struggling to find staff months later.

effingwewt 5y ago
I can't figure out why this is downvoted it's exactly what happened. They thought ending the UI benefits would magically force people back into jobs they hate. Problem is- when every job pays min wage, people are now looking for ones where they won't be fired/laid off if we have a covid resurgence, as well as the jobs that treat them the least like crap, and have a steady schedule. These foodservice jobs have always been some of the worst, they are just now getting their comeuppance. We should have never let them allay the wages of their waitstaff via tips either.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

peanut_worm 5y ago

There is almost no point in working a job that pays under 20 dollars an hour in Florida. Rent here is skyrocketing and there is practically no public transport. Most restaurants here pay between 10 and 15 dollars an hour which just isn’t even worth it anymore.