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A quarter-century ago, there were 56 teenagers in the labor force for every "limited service" restaurant — that is, the kind where you order at the counter.
Today, there are fewer than half as many, which is a reflection both of teenagers' decreasing work force participation and of the explosive growth in restaurants.
But in an industry where cheap labor is an essential component in providing inexpensive food, a shortage of workers is changing the equation upon which fast-food places have long relied. This can be seen in rising wages, in a growth of incentives, and in the sometimes odd situations that business owners find themselves in.
Too many restaurants, not enough teens to work in them.
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A Fast-Food Problem: Where Have All the Teenagers Gone?
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(Score: 4, Informative) by Snow on Thursday July 19 2018, @04:35PM (7 children)
Pretty much anywhere in Canada or the USA that isn't downtown.
My first job I would have to walk to Burger King sometimes when the buses didn't work out. It would take 30 mins if I hopped a 8' concrete sound barrier (there was a power box beside it I could climb on) and then ran across a 6 lane freeway. Otherwise it would take closer to 50 mins. And that was considered close!
(Score: 4, Informative) by Sulla on Thursday July 19 2018, @04:47PM (1 child)
Sulla's AC friend worked at a McDonalds that required him to walk 1.5 hours each way, and this was in Alaska, and this was in the winter. Currently he works at a job paying much better but still has the same walk. And its not like millennials are unwilling to use non-car transport, where I currently live most of them bike or take the bus because they don't want to own a car. The issue is more of a refusal to work at a fast food place or any place making less than 15/hour because student loans are too high to make it affordable. Hell, even if they did take one of those jobs it is unlikely they will get more than 25 hours a week because 30 is now full time and if you work more than 25 you might accidentally go over 30, so you need to juggle two part time jobs and hope you can negotiate schedules between them just to get full time employment.
I got a degree in Accounting from a University that was about average for instate universities, and my student loan payments are 1k/month. So even with 40 hours and 15/hour you gross 2,400/month and about 2k/month after taxes (under old tax plan). So now you have 1k/month after student loans because you are stuck making 15/hour because you can't find a job because they all want several years of infield experience and you couldn't afford unpaid internships. Average rent in the US in 2016 was 1050/month. I think when a lot of the millennials realize this breakdown they just give up.
What percentage of your monthly income was rent when you first started out? What percent of your income was student loans when you graduated college?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @04:24AM
I lived at home until 22 and only left after a call was made from my house to my girlfriends about us having sex
bye
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday July 19 2018, @06:54PM
You forgot the good ol' Canadian saying "And it was uphill both ways in a snow storm!"
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Thursday July 19 2018, @07:56PM (3 children)
I walked 6 miles to my first job as a courtesy clerk at a grocery for $190/wk (inflation adjusted), even when it was 112F out. A lot of kids did.
https://weather.com/weather/today/l/85042:4:US [weather.com]
(Score: 2) by Snow on Thursday July 19 2018, @08:11PM (2 children)
I miss courtesy clerks. They used to bag your groceries up and put it on a special cart thing and load all that into your car.
Now I have to carry my own groceries.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @08:29PM
Uphill in the Snow both ways?
Wait, this has possibly undesired connotations
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @03:53AM
There is a supermarket called Publix which does that, more or less. The cart is ordinary.
I get in the checkout line. I put my own groceries on a conveyor belt, though I'm sure I'd get help if I asked. An employee runs my groceries over a scanner/scale, passing them to a second employee who places them into bags. Bags are free, and they ask if I want paper or plastic. That second employee then loads the bags back into the cart. Once checkout is done, the second employee offers to go out to my car with me. If I accept, they will push the cart and then load the groceries into my vehicle. They then take the cart back in.
Publix is the dominant supermarket chain in many areas, particularly in Florida.