Gee willikers, I never thought this would happen as a result of California's new $20/hour minimum wage for fast food workers.
Here, first I'll give you the sunshine and lollipops:
California implemented a minimum wage for all workers at $16 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2024, although some individual municipalities have implemented higher minimum wage requirements. The new $20-an-hour minimum wage that goes into effect Monday only applies to fast-food workers, who will see their hourly wages rise by as much as 25%.
All fast-food employees, regardless of age, will see a $20 an hour minimum wage in California. This is significantly higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for adults and the youth minimum wage of $4.25, which applies to employees under the age of 20 during their first 90 consecutive days of work with an employer.
Sounds pretty good, right? Especially if you're a kindergartener or someone without an inch of knowledge as to how economics works.
And since you had a tenuous grasp of the laws of economics, the results likely surprised you.
California fast-food chains are laying off workers, raising prices and deciding against opening new stores as the state implements a minimum wage that is more than 175% higher than that required by the federal government …
Alex Johnson, who owns 10 Auntie Anne's Pretzels and Cinnabon bakeries across the San Francisco Bay Area said his sales have slowed down in 2024, forcing him to layoff employees and even use his parents to help with human resources, according to The Associated Press.
The wage increase will cost Johnson about $470,000 annually, so he plans on raising prices between 5% and 15%. He is also no longer hiring new employees or looking to open more stores …
Two Pizza Hut franchisees said they planned to lay \off more than 1,200 delivery drivers and switch to using third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, which requires customers to pay more for deliveries, per Business Insider.
The Southern California Pizza Company and PacPizza, both Pizza Hut franchisees, such as expressed plans to layoff about 1,200 employees as well.
Who would've thought a fast food minimum wage of $20 per hour would cause prices to rise like this, or layoffs to occur?
Yeah bro, it doesn't take much to predict these things.
On the bright side, I bet the kiosks at these fast food joints are going to be super efficient!
We could all use a little more interaction with screens, especially right before stuffing our faces with a bunch of junk calories.
Keep up the good work, California!
You're an inspiration to us all!
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