Minimum Wage workers in Northern VA (a suckers bet) (Fairfax: lease, loan)

[I'm Retired Now]

I had lunch today at a fast food restaurant and was chatting with the manager when she came by to say hello. I asked her about the many Help Wanted signs all over the restaurant and she literally begged me to refer anyone I knew to her because they are facing a huge shortage of workers.

It was a Chick-fil-a and I was shocked that nearly every worker was a white person. (I notice few immigrants at any of their locations, but this one in Fairfax had none!)

I told the manager that my son was interested in working there but I am curious what are they paying for staff. She told me that everyone would start at 10 cents over minimum wage.

No wonder they can't find enough staff. No immigrants, people of color and they are paying $7.55 an hour. I have relatives in Spokane Washington where the cost of living is very low and they are making $9.25 an hour in fast food due to a much higher minimum wage. $9.19 an hour.

How can employers in very expensive Northern VA pay under $8 an hour and stay in business with the rapid turnover and employee shortages that must provide?

[BT Lover]

I don't think it is always a reflection of wages, but rather work environment. Yes, are some people going to have to have multiple jobs? Yes. It is what it is, and I think people would be outraged if their Chick-Fil-A meal cost any more than it already does to help raise the pay of all those working there. We all have to pay our dues at some point or another, and moving up the ladder will end up paying significantly more. Frankly, I feel sorry for those in tipped positions.

Are you willing to pay $10 for one of the value meals?

[boxus]

I was up there recently (I live in Miami) and a few stores like Target were passing out fliers to people in the checkout lane stating they were looking for workers.

Strange thing is, I know a few people that have applied looking for any work and never received a call back from any of these stores (Macy's, Target, Petco, etc) that were claiming they were in need of workers. I have no idea what kind of game they are playing.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by BT Lover

I don't think it is always a reflection of wages, but rather work environment. Yes, are some people going to have to have multiple jobs? Yes. It is what it is, and I think people would be outraged if their Chick-Fil-A meal cost any more than it already does to help raise the pay of all those working there. We all have to pay our dues at some point or another, and moving up the ladder will end up paying significantly more. Frankly, I feel sorry for those in tipped positions.

Are you willing to pay $10 for one of the value meals?

Argument has never been correlated. More likely the store simply makes a 12% margin instead of a 16% margin. Employee pay at a fast food restaurant is a blip on the operation cost. Lease/franchiseloan/materials/utilities all still more expensive.

Would I rather pay 4.99 instead of 4.89 is how you should really view that, and to be honest, I wouldn't care if the food was fine. Or, would I rather the owner make 8000 per month in profit, or 7200 per month in profit; another way to view it.

[I'm Retired Now]

PLEASE... let's not move this to another argument about the pros and cons of the minimum wage. The point I was trying to make is that employers in high cost Fairfax VA are going to lose money due to turnover and labor shortages and hurt their customer service if they don't pay higher wages.

I remember years ago in the 1980s before the flood of immigrants fast food employers were forced to pay up to $2 over minimum wage because they just could not find the workers and they wanted to serve their customers. Now the philosophy seems to be in NOVA that they will keep wages low and the hell with customer service!

Why would anyone move to NOVA to work at minimum wage when minimum wage in other states would give you a significantly higher standard of living, especially in places with a higher local or state minimum wage?

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

PLEASE... let's not move this to another argument about the pros and cons of the minimum wage. The point I was trying to make is that employers in high cost Fairfax VA are going to lose money due to turnover and labor shortages and hurt their customer service if they don't pay higher wages.

I remember years ago in the 1980s before the flood of immigrants fast food workers were forced to pay up to $2 over minimum wage because they just could not find the workers and they wanted to serve their customers. Now the philosophy seems to be in NOVA that they will keep wages low and the hell with customer service!

Why would anyone move to NOVA to work at minimum wage when minimum wage in other states would give you a significantly higher standard of living, especially in places with a higher local or state minimum wage.

... the entire point of this thread is about regional minimum wages. Not sure what discussion you want if you dont want it to turn into a question on the merits of a minimum wage.

Merit; it ensures predatory employment practices don't create a cycle of either poverty or lack of employment and quick turnover hurting the consumer.

It appears you are arguing the same thing, but with the caveat that the govt not be the one saying it. Moh k, I don't care if its market driven or government driven, but I doubt the market is going to voluntarily do anything to reduce their profit margins without some basic parameters

Ultimately I agree, what you will see is the entire service employees will simply stop working around here, then all of sudden the service industry will have no one working for them, and you will see a crisis in which they have to pay a much higher price to get the far fewer available pool. Happened in Palo Alto and other homogenous affluent population centers; will likely happen here devoid of a minimum wage that instead of being tied to some random number set every 10 years (or longer) is connected to an average rate of growth associated with the CPI. Because of the one time nature of the jump the price of products often becomes colluded between retail industries, without the actual collusion, because it is the new norm for what it costs to hire someone; and therefore because everyone does it the price is then passed to the consumer.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by boxus

Strange thing is, I know a few people that have applied looking for any work and never received a call back from any of these stores (Macy's, Target, Petco, etc) that were claiming they were in need of workers. I have no idea what kind of game they are playing.

We had the same issue. Especially with Target. My daughter applied there several times and never got a call back, even though they were hiring. She then finally did get a call from, we assume, the manager and he left a message on our phone. He was using a cellphone and his message was breaking up badly. We couldn't understand his name. My daughter called the store back and said the manager had called her about an interview but his message was inaudible. Those answering the phone claimed to not know who to forward her to and she gave up after about 4 different calls back.

My son applied and also never heard anything. This time, though, I knew someone working at Target and she gave me the direct number to the personnel person and proceeded to tell me that if you didn't know anyone you really would never get a call back but to have my son call and tell them that she gave the number. Fortunately, my son ended up getting another job and didn't have to deal with that crap.

[stateofnature]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

... the entire point of this thread is about regional minimum wages. Not sure what discussion you want if you dont want it to turn into a question on the merits of a minimum wage.

Merit; it ensures predatory employment practices don't create a cycle of either poverty or lack of employment and quick turnover hurting the consumer.

It appears you are arguing the same thing, but with the caveat that the govt not be the one saying it. Moh k, I don't care if its market driven or government driven, but I doubt the market is going to voluntarily do anything to reduce their profit margins without some basic parameters

Ultimately I agree, what you will see is the entire service employees will simply stop working around here, then all of sudden the service industry will have no one working for them, and you will see a crisis in which they have to pay a much higher price to get the far fewer available pool. Happened in Palo Alto and other homogenous affluent population centers; will likely happen here devoid of a minimum wage that instead of being tied to some random number set every 10 years (or longer) is connected to an average rate of growth associated with the CPI. Because of the one time nature of the jump the price of products often becomes colluded between retail industries, without the actual collusion, because it is the new norm for what it costs to hire someone; and therefore because everyone does it the price is then passed to the consumer.

Got a link to any explanation of this phenomenon happening in Palo Alto or elsewhere?

[mcleanexec]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

I had lunch today at a fast food restaurant and was chatting with the manager when she came by to say hello. I asked her about the many Help Wanted signs all over the restaurant and she literally begged me to refer anyone I knew to her because they are facing a huge shortage of workers.

It was a Chick-fil-a and I was shocked that nearly every worker was a white person. (I notice few immigrants at any of their locations, but this one in Fairfax had none!)

I told the manager that my son was interested in working there but I am curious what are they paying for staff. She told me that everyone would start at 10 cents over minimum wage.

No wonder they can't find enough staff. No immigrants, people of color and they are paying $7.55 an hour. I have relatives in Spokane Washington where the cost of living is very low and they are making $9.25 an hour in fast food due to a much higher minimum wage. $9.19 an hour.

How can employers in very expensive Northern VA pay under $8 an hour and stay in business with the rapid turnover and employee shortages that must provide?

There are people of color working at the chick filla in bowie. Teenage fast food jobs pay minimum wage.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

Now the philosophy seems to be in NOVA that they will keep wages low and the hell with customer service!

Who said there was a lack in customer service?? Even in your own example, where they are "begging" for more employees; you appeared to receive exemplary customer service. When was the last time you had a fast food manager walking around talking to customers? If they were that swamped and lacking people, I imagine she'd be behind the counter.

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

I had lunch today at a fast food restaurant and was chatting with the manager when she came by to say hello. I asked her about the many Help Wanted signs all over the restaurant and she literally begged me to refer anyone I knew to her because they are facing a huge shortage of workers.

The market will take care of itself. If there are truly not enough people in this area to work at the minimum wage jobs; they will raise the wages - or go out of business.