California Has Shed Thousands Of Fast Food Jobs Since Newsom’s Minimum Wage Hike

[IsailedawayfromFR]

California has lost thousands of fast food workers since a hefty minimum wage hike went into effect in early 2024, according to a recent analysis from the Employment Policies Institute (EPI), a conservative think tank.

The Golden State is estimated to have lost almost 14,000 fast food jobs since it implemented a minimum wage increase for fast food workers in April 2024, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data published Wednesday by the EPI. In September 2023, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law raising the minimum wage for California’s fast food workers from $16 per hour to $20 per hour, which went into effect in April 2024.

“The minimum wage hike took effect just 11 months ago, and though we’re still in the early days the predictable pattern is already emerging pretty clearly: Facing a 25% hike in their labor costs, employers cut labor,” Will Swaim, president of the California Policy Center, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They’ve laid off workers and replaced them with ATM-like kiosks to replace counter service, and even automating their kitchens and closing dining rooms or reducing their store hours. At the same time, owners are raising menu prices — and of course that falls most heavily on lower-income people, and that leads to less store traffic — and that kickstarts another round of layoffs.”

Compared to September 2023, there were 16,000 fewer fast food employees in September 2024 — six months after the minimum wage policy went into effect, according to BLS data cited by EPI.

After California’s fast food minimum wages increased, some fast food restaurants in the state reported experiencing less customer traffic as well as having to raise their menu prices, according to Fox News. Still, Newsom’s office has repeatedly lauded the fast food wage increases as having positive impacts on California’s workers and denied claims that the law has reduced the state’s fast food workforce.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/03/07/gavin-newsom-california-fast-food-workers/

[MeganC]

Maybe they can learn to code.

[roamer_1]

Gee... Who could have possibly seen that coming? 

[GtHawk]

Wow! Who with a brain didn’t foresee that customers wouldn’t want to pay higher prices or that business owners would cut staffing levels to try and salvage profits? Oh yeah the dumbass democrats who will now slime the owners of the businesses as greedy bastards. I stopped going to fast food not just because of the prices but because almost all of them MickeyD’s, Carl’s and Burger King pre cook everything and all you get is lukewarm crap. Now if there was a In-N-Out near me I might go more often, but their fries suck.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Wow! Who with a brain didn’t foresee that customers wouldn’t want to pay higher prices or that business owners would cut staffing levels to try and salvage profits? Oh yeah the dumbass democrats who will now slime the owners of the businesses as greedy bastards. I stopped going to fast food not just because of the prices but because almost all of them MickeyD’s, Carl’s and Burger King pre cook everything and all you get is lukewarm crap. Now if there was a In-N-Out near me I might go more often, but their fries suck.

communists is the answer to your query.

[Smokin Joe]

More of those 'unforeseen consequences' we all saw coming miles away.

[MeganC]

Now if there was a In-N-Out near me I might go more often, but their fries suck.

It's the oil. If you want really tasty fries you need to use beef tallow.

[DefiantMassRINO]

MeganC is correct.

In a previous life, I flipped burgers for a major national fast food change.

When I started, they used beef tallow to cook their fries.  Yum!

Later, they changed to vegetable oil to be more 'healthy'.  No yum.

My lizard brain seeks fatty, sweet, and salty foods.  The USDA's Food Pyramid 'wine, women, and song'.

[GtHawk]

It's the oil. If you want really tasty fries you need to use beef tallow.

It has a lot to do with cooking from a fresh state also, they aren’t too bad when hot but quickly  start to suck when they cool. As far as the oil, MickeyD’s was still able to turn out a decent tasting fry even after they eliminated the Beef tallow because they were afraid of losing the Hindu market(F’Em). There is much to be said for the process of blanching the fries and then freezing them, the fries are crisper and have better flavor. French fries are one of only a handful of items, if that, that MickeyD’s sells that still are a decent product with their original flavor and quality.

[GtHawk]

MeganC is correct.

In a previous life, I flipped burgers for a major national fast food change.

When I started, they used beef tallow to cook their fries.  Yum!

Later, they changed to vegetable oil to be more 'healthy'.  No yum.

My lizard brain seeks fatty, sweet, and salty foods.  The USDA's Food Pyramid 'wine, women, and song'.

MickeyD’s didn’t change to be ‘healthy’, they just used that as an excuse, I was managing them at the time, they surrendered when a Hindu sued over the beef tallow. I would have told the guy to piss off and buy his food somewhere else, it’s not like buying your food at MickeyD’s is a God given right from Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu.

[MeganC]

MickeyD’s didn’t change to be ‘healthy’, they just used that as an excuse, I was managing them at the time, they surrendered when a Hindu sued over the beef tallow. I would have told the guy to piss off and buy his food somewhere else, it’s not like buying your food at MickeyD’s is a God given right from Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu.