Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Restaurant workers quit at record rate

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

611–620 of 961 posts

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#611

Post by postingawayonhn »

valarauko wrote: post #434
ipaddr wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25 dollar hamburgers? That sounds so strange.

Genuine Q: is $25 a lot for a burger in a restaurant (including tax, like in Australia)? I ask because I see burgers in mid range restaurants for $14-$20 here in NYC, and then there's the 8.825% tax. 25 AUD is ~ $18 USD, which seems about right.

It depends on the establishment.

Grilld is a popular mid-range burger chain and their burgers range from AUD $9 to $16.90 (USD $6.60 to $12.40). All advertised retail prices in Australia include 10% GST (good and services tax).

At a more formal restaurant you will likely find a AUD $25 burger but that's about the top end for burger prices.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#612

Post by ahallock »

jackson1442 wrote: post #601
josephcsible wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that businesses stubbornly refuse to raise wages - it's that they can't afford to. A lot of local small businesses were barely staying afloat even before March 2020.

If a business can’t afford to pay its employees enough make rent and buy groceries, perhaps it shouldn’t be a business?

In high school, I worked at a fast food joint to make a little extra money. There were no expectations to pay rent or other essentials. But you'll say that it's not kids working these jobs, so we need to provide a livable wage. What about getting these people skills for better jobs? I'd rather attack that problem than make Wendy's sandwich maker a viable career.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#613

Post by mlindner »

browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

The reason they're not raising their wages is because restaurants make slim to nothing profits. Additionally the people quitting is from the government continuing to provide the stimulus checks that are in excess of the minimum wage. They need to stop providing those checks when the economy needs to be recovered.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#615

Post by areyousure »

ruined wrote: post #384
usaar333 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The covid rule changes to UI were more flexible. You could leave/not take a new job due to covid concerns: https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Califo...

ok, sure. but then once again it's on the managers, who have apparently failed so badly to remedy their dangerous work environment that the state considers the employees to have been forced out.

The article linked by your parent said that it is sufficient for the job to be "non essential".

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#616

Post by jollybean »

jackson1442 wrote: post #601
josephcsible wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that businesses stubbornly refuse to raise wages - it's that they can't afford to. A lot of local small businesses were barely staying afloat even before March 2020.

If a business can’t afford to pay its employees enough make rent and buy groceries, perhaps it shouldn’t be a business?

Exactly. All the grocery stores and restaurants should close and we'll see how well that bodes for the local citizens.

Edit, I'm being sarcastic. It's glib to suggest that somehow all of these businesses can just magically raise prices. It's a complex situation.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#617

Post by SMAAART »

browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

Most small shops are struggling, being 1 bad financial decision away from bankruptcy; doing business with no type of insurance whatsoever, and here and there stiffing some suppliers to make ends meet.

So, there's no way they can afford to increase any expense, if they were to do that, they'd be out of business right away, so they continue floating away.

These business owners are unfit to do business; so what is happening is economic darwinism. RIP.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#618

Post by lrdswrk00 »

FredPret wrote: post #387
lrdswrk00 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in a restaurant through high school and have been coding professionally for 20 years. After a certain point, programming becomes less hard. It becomes a set of very familiar syntax snippets to copy/paste around. Rushing around a kitchen in the heat, and often toxic, juvenile environment all week never changes… versus programming in your house? Give me a break. You’re not coming close to putting the same real…

It took you… - 20 years of work - x years of study - being born with the right nature/nurture mix for computer work …to get to this point. That’s a very significant initial hump in difficulty that restaurant work doesn’t have.

I did both for multiple years. I know which one feels like work.

Go work 20 years of Friday and Saturday nights in a popular restaurant. Does not have to be the same one, as the expectation is the same.

The level of effort I need to put into coding dropped off exponentially.

As one ages the level of effort out into restaurant work goes up.

Let’s rely on science and not bias. Programming is still not sweatshop work on the regular. I work 4 solid hours a day.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#619

Post by throwawayboise »

smachiz wrote: post #397
mariodiana wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't articulate the details, down to the last detail, but the worst thing to happen to tipping is the change the IRS made, some years back. If I understand correctly, the IRS always used to estimate tip for a server based on a table's bill. (The custom is 15-20 percent, and I think the IRS used to average lower than that.) But the IRS always used to collect its cut on tips from the server. The change is that the I…

This isn't an IRS change. It was a public behavior change. The owners always had to withhold taxes from their wait staff, just as your taxes are withheld by your employer. The difference is that since almost all tips are now on credit cards, the business owner doesn't need to assume the % sales to withhold, and withholds based on virtually all of their employees tips. The end result is that the wait staff can't commi…

That is a change. I used to deliver pizza, it was cash or check, I pocketed any tips before I got back to the store, the management never had a clue how much tips I got or did not get. Even with the checks, they just went into a box and were totaled at the end of the day. No way to trace them back to an order.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#620

Post by mchusma »

This is an atypical time. Of course right now there is huge churn, due to covid, the pandemic unemployment benefits, and the fact that restaurants have had to quickly hire anyone with a pulse to keep up. This all leads to obvious churn.

The real question is whether things will be meaningfully different in 10-30 years. I suspect the answer will be yes, because automation will be more capable, combined with legislative pressure to eliminate low paying jobs.

Post reply on HN