Sign on bonus for fast food?

[MrsPete]

My husband and I were out the other day, and I saw a sign on a Wendy's: Now hiring. $300 sign-on bonus. We talked about it and said to each other, "Workers must be hard to get these days. Is it about getting people back as the pandemic stumbles towards an end?"

Yesterday I was out running errands and I saw the same thing on a Ruby Tuesday: Now hiring $200 sign-on bonus.

I know that fast food (here) pays more than minimum wage -- my students talk about making $10-11/hour. This certainly wasn't true when I was young and working such jobs! And a sign-on bonus? I never would've expected it for a low-skill job.

Has anyone else seen this?

 

[RedAngie]

My company is offering a $500 signing bonus, payable after 90 days of employment, for part-time store associates. Plus they had a $300 “covid incentive” if new or current employees got vaccinated before maybe June 20.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I would hope any employer would require at least 90 days or more before the "bonus" payout.

 

[soccerdad72]

Most places around us are having to offer $12-$15 an hour plus "signing bonuses" as well in order to try to get enough staff.

Cedar Point made news around here for offering $20 an hour to employees - they were so short staffed, they only opened for 4-5 days a week through June. They're fully staffed now, I believe. Unfortunately, the other companies in the city are now hurting for workers.

 

[Southernmiss]

I've been in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi in the last month. I've seen the same signs as the OP all over.

Minimum wages paid are up, as are sign on incentives.

The job culture has definitely changed since the pandemic started.

It's not a bad thing at all. IMHO.

Back 'in our day' minimum wage went a heck of a lot further than today.

 

[floridafam]

I don’t see anything wrong with it. A job is a job. They are trying to attract workers. Sign on bonuses attract workers, incentivize them to stay there and not go somewhere else, and it’s a nice little bonus for employees whose paychecks might not be on par for how hard they work.

 

[Southernmiss]

I've also read about similar struggles in other countries. It does not seem that this is unique to the US.

 

[mom2febgirls]

Around here most of the companies advertising sign on bonuses aren't hiring full time workers. My daughter asked for more hours at her job (which is one of the companies begging for more workers) but they just gave her a raise instead because they don't want to pay full time benefits :/

 

[Kellydelly]

People won't get off unemployment, that is why the restaurants are struggling to get staff and have to offer so much incentive and high wages.

 

[tvguy]

One restaurant here is offering a $5,000 bonus to attract workers. Minimum wage here is $14 an hour, but Chick Fil A made news here before the pandemic for starting workings at $17 an hour. People just wouldn't work for less. https://www.abc10.com/article/life/...ring/103-1a15625a-251e-4b64-9c6c-8b4d89ce439b

 

[mrodgers]

I've also read about similar struggles in other countries. It does not seem that this is unique to the US.

Now that's interesting.

The narrative is that with the added unemployment paying everyone $15/hour to stay home, no one is trying to get back to work.

We talked about this at work, 6 of us and not one of us could say they knew anyone who wasn't working and was staying home. So now my thoughts have changed to, where are all these people who aren't working that everywhere is under staffed?

I encountered my first call of a place saying they couldn't open because of staffing. Mom wanted KFC, I don't like to do the drive-thru, especially a place I don't know their menu. I went to the door and the dining room was closed due to staffing. Drive-thru only. I had no choice but to sit there in my car and study the half menu as I do know they have more than what was listed, just didn't know what it would be called and didn't see it.

 

[Southernmiss]

A couple of articles on global workers
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/05/solving-the-mystery-of-the-worker-shortage/
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1093182

 

[floridafam]

I disagree with the argument that this is happening because people would rather collect unemployment. Many food service workers weren’t or aren’t eligible for unemployment and most high school and college kids simply aren’t eligible for unemployment. And, many of them missed out on any stimulus money.

 

[MrsPete]

I would hope any employer would require at least 90 days or more before the "bonus" payout.

We talked about it, and that's one thing we guessed.

I've been in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi in the last month. I've seen the same signs as the OP all over.

I was surprised to see the signs here in NC. Guess it's not so unique.

The job culture has definitely changed since the pandemic started.

Yes, we're going to see other social changes as we "finish up" this pandemic. And it's not without precident: The Black Plague /Bubonic Plague was the final straw /essentially killed the Feudal System /boosted the Middle Class into existence.

Back 'in our day' minimum wage went a heck of a lot further than today.

Eh, back when I was in college and made minimum wage (which was $3.35 then), I often /usually could not afford a meal at McDonalds.

One restaurant here is offering a $5,000 bonus to attract workers.

WOW.
I'd assume that figure would only go to the highest qualified. I poked around on Google /saw that higher bonuses are going to people with "open schedules". I have a sibling who's a fast food assistant manager, and before the pandemic they were already having trouble getting people who were willing to work. He said they'd pay a premium wage to everyone for the last hour of the evening (when the staff has to do cleaning /less fun chores). He says that if they didn't pay extra, teen workers would walk out /refuse to do that last hour ... yet they couldn't afford to fire them because replacements weren't available.

We talked about this at work, 6 of us and not one of us could say they knew anyone who wasn't working and was staying home. So now my thoughts have changed to, where are all these people who aren't working that everywhere is under staffed?

I can name a couple people in this situation.

I encountered my first call of a place saying they couldn't open because of staffing. Mom wanted KFC, I don't like to do the drive-thru, especially a place I don't know their menu. I went to the door and the dining room was closed due to staffing. Drive-thru only.

I haven't been aware of this, but it sounds quite plausible. I wonder if some fast food places will go to drive-through /pick-up only (less staff). Or if they'll add a fee for "sit down" or only open the dining rooms during certain hours?

We live in changing times, y'all.

 

[tasha99]

They're calling this "The Great Resignation." I can see it. I quit my job because of the pandemic and will likely never go back. I might pick up a part time retiree type job, but not something with stressful levels of responsibility.

 

[mrodgers]

I haven't been aware of this, but it sounds quite plausible. I wonder if some fast food places will go to drive-through /pick-up only (less staff). Or if they'll add a fee for "sit down" or only open the dining rooms during certain hours?

We live in changing times, y'all.

I have heard around the internet of places not opening the dining room and such because of staffing. This was just the first I've heard about it that I thought of because now I recall our Starbucks randomly closing due to staffing and people calling off (no staffing to cover the call-offs.) I forgot about Starbucks because I don't do Starbucks and it's not ever on my radar.

 

[meggers628]

I think people’s priorities have changed post-pandemic. Service positions are a hard sell when they are treated, and paid, poorly. Especially when remote positions are available as an alternative. Warehouse positions are more attractive.

People blaming expanded unemployment will have to come up with a new reason in 2 months. Also fast food never closed. They should not have laid off any employees during the pandemic. They are multi million dollar corporations who treated their employees as expendable and are now reaping what they sowed in a transformed labor market.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Most places around us are having to offer $12-$15 an hour plus "signing bonuses" as well in order to try to get enough staff.

Cedar Point made news around here for offering $20 an hour to employees - they were so short staffed, they only opened for 4-5 days a week through June. They're fully staffed now, I believe. Unfortunately, the other companies in the city are now hurting for workers.

Amazing how that works. You pay a bit more and suddenly your hiring issues go away.

People won't get off unemployment, that is why the restaurants are struggling to get staff and have to offer so much incentive and high wages.

It goes far deeper than that. The labor force saw a lot of contractions due to:
-Retirements from people who kept giving it "one more year" and the pandemic gave them a push out the door.
-Parents who took on the role of teacher/babysitter while daycares were closed. Now that the families realized they can get by on one income, it takes a lot to get them to return.
-People who used their time off during the pandemic to increase their qualifications
-Retirees who left the workforce because they didn't want to deal with the health risks (Wal-Mart greeters, for example)

All of this has resulted in better jobs (full time, better pay, good benefits) scooping up a lot of the available employees. If you're a bottom feeder who expects employees to work 30 hours a week with no benefits for $10 an hour? Good luck.

 

[spiders]

The last time I went to McDonald's I got a meal, a double cheeseburger, and a small fry. It was $16. Disposable incomes are not increasing and *surprise* the increased costs are being passed on. The problem for McDonald's is that nothing I got was worth even close to $16 but I needed something quickly because I was running late. Fast food is great when you don't have any other alternatives. I will at least them credit that the order was correct.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sign on bonuses have been used for months around here in a variety of industries.

I don't know why people would assume that fast food is any different right now than all the other places that are struggling to get workers (and frankly pay is just one reason).

Our closest Sonic closes at 5pm because they are short staffed (that's just one example although it's been a few weeks since we last heard could be better nowadays).

But framing it like people don't deserve it because it's a low skilled job is . I really dislike when people talk about jobs like that.