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California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

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Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#101
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pretending that every job is worth $20/hour apparently has "unforeseen consequences" Pretending that companies can do things they can't afford to, by paying people less than they need, also has consequences. Although they're not really "unforeseen" since we've been seeing the consequences of it for decades now.

I didn't need a livable wage as a teenager. It was a way to get extra spending cash/job experience. Granted, wages definitely haven't kept up, so I agree in part. It's sad that people need these menial jobs--which will probably be automated at some point--to survive, instead of being able to pursue something more meaningful.

And if minimum wages were, in fact, limited to teenagers who were fully supported by their parents (as opposed to, say, teenagers whose parents were disabled, already living on a fixed income, or otherwise poor and relying on the extra income from the teenager's job), that might hold some weight.

As it stands, people just use that as an excuse for retaining sub-livable minimum wages for everyone.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#102
post #58

perhaps Pizza Hut has a product that is total garbage that nobody wants anymore anyway?

This is basically my problem with the Bud Light boycott.

There was a time when it was popular for its cheap and consistent qualities.

But now there are so many options, and so many customizations and flavor with relative cost that it’s clear the brand was going to die anyway.

That doesn’t excuse their piss poor messaging that was the real grievance most former drinkers had. Insulting and attacking your primary customers defensive someone who is never going to be your customer is just not a good move.

But as the effectiveness, it was a prime situation, not necessarily the world’s most effective boycott.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#103
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Florida, Texas don't have mild winters?

I think you might have replied to my comment before reading past the first 10 words.

I'm not sure what you qualify as good but Oregon does not have great social programs. In fact, it lags behind on many indicators. California and Washington are pretty well off. Oregon is often in the bottom 1/2 of most metrics.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#104

Perhaps Yum Brands has the data to back this up, but it seems quite a silly response that feels more political/ideological than based on sound economics. BIL was COO of a pizza chain. The cost for a large pizza was around $1.50 - even for pricey toppings and gluten free bread. Labor is cheap at ~60 seconds per pie. Biggest costs was rent. A $5 raise could be absorbed across and then some with a 10¢ increase in price…

This reminds me when obamacare was being debated and the papa johns ceo said if it passed he will have to raise the cost of all pizzas by 25 cents to give his employees health insurance. I'm like wtf, that's all? why haven't that been done already.

[flagged]

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#105

This feels a little short-sighted. Just this year, New York City implemented new minimum payment schedules for "self employed" app delivery drivers, which brings their minimum hourly payment to nearly $30/hr. I will strongly suspect that the big centres in california will do likewise, or potentially the state as whole.

When wages become too expensive, you automate. That's economics.

Keeping wages artificially low (with Immigration for example) disincentivizes businesses from investing in new technology (aka LSDs => Labor Saving Devices). Productivity declines. The economy stagnates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBRJ8_cUhKU

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#106
post #38

Perhaps Yum Brands has the data to back this up, but it seems quite a silly response that feels more political/ideological than based on sound economics. BIL was COO of a pizza chain. The cost for a large pizza was around $1.50 - even for pricey toppings and gluten free bread. Labor is cheap at ~60 seconds per pie. Biggest costs was rent. A $5 raise could be absorbed across and then some with a 10¢ increase in price…

I wouldn't be surprised if with the rise of Uber Eats / Doordash, they were wanting to get out of the business of first-party deliveries anyway, and saw the wage increase as a final straw. I can't imagine that these companies particularly want to be in the business of last-mile logistics, so much as that historically it was a very complimentary business to selling pizza. Now that companies have sprung up around a com…

> and saw the wage increase as a final straw.

...and saw the wage increase as a useful distraction to blame.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1.50 for ingredients, 1 minute of labor? I am skeptical of those numbers, and "my brother in law says" is not a reliable source. Costco charges $10 for a whole pizza (which you pick up, no delivery). Given their business model, I suspect that number is pretty close to the actual cost of production.

I make pizza at home, to be honest with 10 euros i make 6-7 pizzas, and the issue would be just that the dough finishes, adding 1.50 euros for another kilo would make for another 6-7 pizzas. now its italian prices so might need adjustments but lets see 50 cents yeast 1 euro flour 50 cents salt 2 euros tomato passata 1kg 50 cents basil The rest mozzarella Now you might want to go over budget a bit and get some olive o…

Sure, flour and yeast are cheap. But then you're spending a lot more than 1 minute of labor per pizza. Maybe you could build a robot that makes it for you, but now you are spending a fortune on capital equipment.

Real-world cost optimizers like Costco have some robots (the pizza saucing machine is cool) and they still end up with a cost around $10 per pizza.

Making pizza has high margins when you charge $25 or more per pizza. Not $10. Pizza Hut charges less than $25 but that includes delivery. From a random web link (https://www.vettedbiz.com/pizza-hut-franchise/) franchises average around 15% margins, which is not great.

Re: California Pizza Huts lay off all delivery drivers ahead of minimum wage increas

#109
this will be bad for stores doing this, uber eats and door dash choose what they want to take and I have seen many times in my second jobs Sitting job pizzas ordered through those services sit on a shelf for up to and even longer than hour to be picked up. Plus you pay a ridiculous amount of fees to have something delivered through those services.
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