Earlier quoted context omitted.
And wouldn’t a McDonalds store in the middle of nowhere also make less money than a major city? But even at $150K net income, there isn’t much room to raise salaries.
McDonalds is the place where you can get something like a cheeseburger for a dollar without getting food poisoning. McDonalds was a high quality product at one time. There’s no regulatory environment that prevents exploitation of the workforce, so doing so is the low risk choice. The company chose a low quality bar and competitive pressure forces them to mercilessly attack cost.
16 hours x 4 people x 7 days x 52 weeks Equals about 2400 hours a year.
How much could they raise the hourly rate of their employees and raise prices before the demand went down and still be profitable if they are only making $150K now? At what point does it not make sense to invest $1 - $3 million a year to make meager returns?