Working in fast food is not an easy gig—no matter what position you hold in the restaurant. For many of us, a fast-food job is an entry point into the workplace as a teenager. It’s an opportunity to learn job skills while earning your first paycheck.
For others, fast food restaurants offer good opportunities for advancement. You can work your way up through a company and earn six figures by running multiple locations–at least, that’s the way it used to be.
As many states and companies are raising their minimum wage, combined with the pandemic causing a seismic shift in the job market, fast-food jobs are starting to look a lot different.
Now, fast food restaurants are offering starting wages as high as $15 per hour or more, according to Indeed. But there are still significant labor shortages. At least, that’s what those in ownership and management are saying.
Bosses Vs. Workers
A Twitter post from a Florida-based Jimmy John’s recently went viral because it featured two signs on the door of a shuttered location. In the image, the note from the location’s owners read:
“This location is temporarily closed due to labor shortage. We are in the process of restaffing to return to normal operations and would like to apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.”
The second sign came from a former employee, who wanted to share their two cents about why this particular Jimmy John’s was closed.
“There IS no labor shortage!! The owners of this establishment treated their employees like dogs, never once helping us out—they don’t even live in Florida. All employees (including management) were students and did a great job keeping the store running with no help from owners. The past few months of crappy business have been the result of lazy, careless ownership.”
Support For Workers
With the great resignation starting in the summer of 2021, fast-food restaurants have been struggling to remain fully staffed. Despite the fact that most fast-food workers are making way more cash than ever before.
For many fast-food chains, this is speeding up the transition to fully-automated locations with touch screen/app/online ordering. Which significantly reduces the number of jobs at each location.
On social media, the support for the worker side of the argument is incredibly vocal. One commenter wrote, “shoutout to all the workers refusing to take s****y treatment, not to mention lies, from the bosses and owners.”
No matter which side of the issue you fall on, the one positive is that these unhappy workers were able to quit and find employment elsewhere. Hopefully, they landed somewhere with better conditions and pay structure.
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