April 24, 2024

#FIGHTFOR20! California Fast Food Prices Soar As Minimum Wage Hike Takes Toll on Businesses, Workers, and Customers.

The state of California seems hellbent on making life a living hell for middle-class residents, as evidenced not just by their soft-on-crime policies but by the minimum wage increase that went into effect at the beginning of April.

Though the $20/hour wage was ostensibly designed to help minimum wage workers, it has had the opposite effect, with fast food restaurants in the Democrat-run state slashing jobs and hours, implementing hiring freezes, and/or bringing in self-serve kiosks to ease the financial burden.

Something else they’ve had to do is raise prices on the food they serve, with prices going up as much as eight percent at some locations according to a new study:

Wendy’s has hiked prices by roughly 8% while Chipotle has raised prices by 7.5%, according to data from Kalinowski Equity Research and cited in The New York Post.

Taco Bell raised menu prices by 3% and Burger King hiked prices by 2%, the report found.

Seattle-based Starbucks increased prices by about 7% in California.

To be fair though, Wendy’s is experimenting with new technology to help keep prices down:

The real minimum wage is always zero.

UPDATE: This Washington Times headline is succinct: Fast food chains find a way around $20 minimum wage: Get rid of the workers.

Given the explosion of AI, touchscreens, automation and other technology, why couldn’t Sacramento see this coming?

Posted at 12:45 pm by Ed Driscoll