California food chains laying off workers ahead of new minimum wage law

[libertybele]

Duh.  What did they expect was going to happen? 

California food chains laying off workers ahead of new minimum wage law

Some California fast-food locations are letting go of workers ahead of a new $20 minimum wage law slated to take effect in April that could dramatically impact their bottom lines.

Several eateries, particularly pizza chains, have begun to cut jobs, in an effort to get ahead of the possible financial repercussions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Michael Ojeda, 29, a Pizza Hut driver in Ontario, Calif., told the newspaper that he received a notice from Pizza Hut franchisee Southern California Pizza in December informing him that his last day of work would be in February.

"Pizza Hut was my career for nearly a decade and with little to no notice it was taken away," said Ojeda.

Last year, multiple Pizza Hut franchises in California filed notices to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, saying they were discontinuing their delivery services. Many of the services were delivery driver jobs.

In December, Southern California Pizza Co. announced layoffs of around 841 drivers across the state. The moves will impact Pizza Hut locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties.

"Where select California franchisees have elected to make changes to their staffing approach, access to delivery service will continue to be available via Pizza Hut’s mobile app, website and phone ordering and the customer ordering experience will remain consistent," Pizza Hut spokesperson told FOX Business at the time. ...............

https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-food-drink/california-food-chains-laying-off-workers-ahead-new-minimum-wage-law

[Hoodat]

Michael Ojeda, 29, a Pizza Hut driver in Ontario, Calif., told the newspaper that he received a notice from Pizza Hut franchisee Southern California Pizza in December informing him that his last day of work would be in February.

"Pizza Hut was my career for nearly a decade and with little to no notice it was taken away," said Ojeda.

Little or no notice?   Dude, you voted for this.  It was on the ballot.  You knew full well what you were doing.  Enjoy.

[mountaineer]

Gee, who could have predicted this outcome? 

[sneakypete]

Little or no notice?   Dude, you voted for this.  It was on the ballot.  You knew full well what you were doing.  Enjoy.

@Hoodat

You have no idea how he voted.

[Hoodat]

@Hoodat

You have no idea how he voted.

A 29-year-old working minimum wage for a decade and who considers delivering pizzas a "career"?

[LMAO]

Duh.  What did they expect was going to happen? 

To understand a progressive mindset, go back to your thinking process when you were a child. The progressive has a worldview similar to that of a small child

They really believed that employers would happily pay this.

[sneakypete]

A 29-year-old working minimum wage for a decade and who considers delivering pizzas a "career"?

@Hoodat

He clearly ain't the most ambitious person we have ever heard of,but that is NOT a minimum wage job. Well,it is,from the employer's POV,but the delivery people get tips for fast deliveries.

Which means nobody really knows how much me makes. He might be a slacker who only makes the minimum effort,or he could be a real hard worker that delivers ASAP with a smile in order to get the big tips.

Or anything between the two.

[Smokin Joe]

A 29-year-old working minimum wage for a decade and who considers delivering pizzas a "career"?

A note on being a delivery driver. Wage, from minimum to $14/hour. Some places pay a delivery fee to the driver (it was $1.50/order where I worked), others pay mileage at 0.55/mile. On top of that are tips, which averaged about $5.00 per delivery in the market where I worked during COVID.

Now, Trumps simplification of taxes took away the form 2106 deductions for mileage and repairs on an employee owned vehicle for work, which would have given the job the potential to repair all the running gear on a clean bodied vehicle and deduct it. Frankly that hurt.

But back to it. Depending on how well you know the delivery area and take advantage of traffic flow (and the number of orders), it was possible to get in 15-20 deliveries in an 8 hour shift, of which about 7 hours would be spent taking orders out (along with another hour of store cleanup at close).

So....8 hours at, say $8.00/ hour. $80.00

15 deliveries at $1.50 each $22.50

tips at $5.00 average per order $75.00

That's $177.50 for 8 hours work, (just over $22.00/hr)--which is why I did that during COVID. No where near oilfield money, but there was only oilfield money for production hands at the time, the drilling rig count went to zero in the Williston Basin for the first time since oil was discovered in the '50s.

That's the low end, and fuel was cheap when I did it, at about 75-100 miles for the night, or roughly $15 worth of gas.

The delivery people made better money, if they were go-getters and competent, than anyone else in the shop, except maybe the managers and the franchisee.

Now, the expansion of personnel costs in California will affect the cooks, servers, the folks in the back who did prep work and washed dishes and will all get a raise, but the drivers are being eliminated? The people who make ordering a pizza attractive because it comes to you, hot, if the driver did their job well. Door dash and other independent delivery groups folks do their best, but they take longer to get the food from the oven to you than in-house drivers. In the end, this will hurt the business on a grander scale than imagined, because they will lose business, too.

[SZonian]

Little or no notice?   Dude, you voted for this.  It was on the ballot.  You knew full well what you were doing.  Enjoy.

I don't begrudge someone doing this type of work if that is what works for them and makes them happy. He may not have harbored the same ambitions as you and I, but it sounds like he enjoyed his job. A messed up situation all around regardless...

[PeteS in CA]

Gee, who could have predicted this outcome? 

Even a blind Ouija Board operator with no hands could have predicted it.

[Smokin Joe]

I don't begrudge someone doing this type of work if that is what works for them and makes them happy. He may not have harbored the same ambitions as you and I, but it sounds like he enjoyed his job. A messed up situation all around regardless...

In my year in that business, if you are surrounded by good, fun people, it's not so bad, despite my career sights having been set higher. It isn't six figures, like the oil patch, but the oil patch went dead during COVID--something about oil going negative causing drilling rigs to finish the well they were on and stack out.

For those not accustomed to that income level or type of work, it paid the bills if they had a working spouse or roommate, and less than a tribe of kids. For me, it paid the basic bills, bought gas, groceries, and incidentals (my house was paid off and no car payment). We also got a free medium pizza of our choice (or an order of wings), and often there were either cook's mistakes or unclaimed pick-up pizzas, too.
You did not go hungry.