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Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

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Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#71

Post by Schroedingersat »

endisneigh wrote: post #3

I wonder what the USA would look like if minimum wage was defined as; two people being able to afford a 1 bedroom apartment within a 1 hour drive without traffic. The static (both in the nominal and inflation adjusted sense) for minimum wage doesn't make sense imo. Minimum wage should be tied to some level of living (not necessarily a great living, but something ) This guy smh

Nah,

Make it one bedroom per adult (so 1 bed apt for one, or 2 bed for 2, whichever is more) with a 30 minute commute in peak hour (by any means), as well as enough left over for a deposit on a similar home in 5 years for 20% lvr assuming current property value growth continues.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#72

Post by 22c »

juancb wrote: post #29
darth_avocado wrote: post #20

Rising gas prices mean we can lower wages to keep employees? Outside of the moral implication, this doesn't even logically make sense. People are already facing higher costs, if you pay them lower, they will not work for you, because you know, commuting to work at your place will eat into the budget.

Those with exploitative mindsets have learned over time that it's easier to take advantage of those who they see as weak and desperate.

See also: employees on a sponsored work visa

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#73

Post by gruez »

jasonhansel wrote: post #66
nostromo wrote: post #30

Ethics aside, this is bad analysis. Gas prices putting financial stress on Applebee's employees will also put financial stress on Applebee's customers, who may cut spending on things like going to Applebee's.

It will also force employees to look for higher-paying jobs, potentially causing them to leave if Applebees doesn't raise its pay. Normally inflation is associated with higher wages, not lower ones.

>It will also force employees to look for higher-paying jobs

...implying they weren't already doing so? I'm not sure about you, but I don't think applebees is the type of place you stick around for "the good work culture" or whatever.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#74

Post by naoqj »

warent wrote: post #12
aerovistae wrote: post #9

Quoted post unavailable.

> Please don't post comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

He didn't say that hn is turning into reddit, he ist talking about this particular thread, and at the moment that he had posted the comment, I would have agreed with him.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#75

Post by Schroedingersat »

wccrawford wrote: post #28
endisneigh wrote: post #3

I wonder what the USA would look like if minimum wage was defined as; two people being able to afford a 1 bedroom apartment within a 1 hour drive without traffic. The static (both in the nominal and inflation adjusted sense) for minimum wage doesn't make sense imo. Minimum wage should be tied to some level of living (not necessarily a great living, but something ) This guy smh

That's not nearly enough detail for the setting of the wage. Companies would simply assume that they always eat the cheapest food, buy the cheapest transportation, never go on vacation, no luxuries at all, etc etc. If you don't factor all that in, they'll factor it out.

Still a great deal better than the current situation. Currently if you do all that stuff and have room mates you might break even.

I'd be here for using the same standards as rental agencies do though so it's actually possible to get a place: 3x the rent of 1 bedroom for one full time job. And make it within 30 minutes during peak hour (by whichever means is fastest). Also if they cite a train as their fastest, then no car or license requirements on the job and no penalizing anyone if the train is late.

If they want to be feudal lords, they can at least have the bare minimum responsibilities that actual feudal lords had.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#76

Post by nvahalik »

mym1990 wrote: post #51
nvahalik wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one of the overlooked pieces of the email is on the second page. I read it yesterday so my memory isn't super fresh. But he essentially says that: * they've been hiring people at $18-20/hr * the government pandemic aid/unemployment is dropping off and therefore they are no longer "competing with the government" I think a lot of the "progress" with increasing wages was artificially inflated by government overs…

I think thinking through the economics of the situation is one thing, but voicing it to the people you employ is a bit different.

I come at this from probably a different perspective. A close family member has been having problems hiring people recently.

People want to make a minimum of $15/hr. For some small businesses this is a hard ask. But it's complicated further by the fact that many of the people they have hired have walked out when they got busy. Basically, they want to be paid to sit around and do the minimum amount of work possible. All the while not realizing that the person who is employing them is just barely more than they are (and bearing the brunt of bad months by making less).

So personally, I know that many small business owners are definitely hoping that the market changes so that they can hire not only quality people but at a rate that makes more economic sense.

In this case, this isn't some super-specialized job, it's just a job with high variability in load and requires (sometimes) long hours doing tedious (but not physically demanding) work.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#77

Post by golemiprague »

endisneigh wrote: post #3

I wonder what the USA would look like if minimum wage was defined as; two people being able to afford a 1 bedroom apartment within a 1 hour drive without traffic. The static (both in the nominal and inflation adjusted sense) for minimum wage doesn't make sense imo. Minimum wage should be tied to some level of living (not necessarily a great living, but something ) This guy smh

No post body was provided.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#78

Post by tablespoon »

daenz wrote: post #44
metadat wrote: post #2

> Wayne Pankratz, executive director of operations for Applebee’s franchisee Apple Central LLC. > “The advantage this has for us is that it will increase application flow and has the potential to lower our average wage. How you ask? > “Most of our employee base and potential employee base live paycheck to paycheck. Any increase in gas price cuts into their disposable income. As inflation continues to climb and gas pr…

Aside from the fact that this person is a soulless scumbag, how do you ever even get to the position of executive director without realizing what a toxic and abusive attitude that is and should never ever be expressed by anyone in his position? Did he think that what he said was smart business sense? Is he that disconnected from the average employee? I just don't understand how it made it past all of the ethical filt…

> I just don't understand how it made it past all of the ethical filters that someone in a leadership position should have, and how that failing never manifested itself sooner.

Ethical filters? They're probably less likely than you think. There's a not-uncommon idea that the sole ethical obligation of a business is to make money for its shareholders, and this soulless scumbag seems to be thinking that way.

This guy's professional mistake probably just saying the quiet part loud, not so much thinking what he did or acting on that strategy.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#79

Post by nightski »

colpabar wrote: post #37
toomuchtodo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offtopic: These people are everywhere, which is why policy guardrails to defend against sociopaths is so important.

To put this another way: any argument that boils down to “the free market will solve it” is complete bullshit because it doesn’t account for these people.

Theoretically it would (and actually we are seeing that unfold now in the great resignation). With competition people aren't forced to work at Applebees. In fact it's a great time to be looking for work right now.
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