Sign on bonus for fast food?

[TwoMisfits]

One thing that’s been mentioned a bit in this thread that I think is a large contributor to the problem, is how nasty the public has become. And, at times, dangerous. A 17 year old lifeguard was recently stabbed on duty in MA because he asked a group of young adults to stop partying or leave. There is already a lifeguard shortage.
When my DD was 14 and 15, she worked as a cashier and then service desk clerk at our grocery store. Not sure I would let my young teen work with the public in today’s environment.

This is why I don't have my girls working right now - my oldest would be willing to work (although she's also willing to enjoy summer), and if I pushed, she would...but last summer, I didn't want the viral risk...and this summer, I don't want the public one. We'll see how next summer goes, although I'm hoping as a college student, she'll have more options for "less face time" jobs...

 

[prairie_girl]

I knew of many people choosing unemployment over working. Especially in the beginning with the $600 bonus! My oldest DD was really annoyed as she was considered an "essential" worker in a nursing home/rehab. Had Covid go through there and though the company was awarded money from the gov't as well, they never passed it on to the employees.

My youngest DD worked at Dunkin. She was making $15 an hour and we live in a low cost of living area. That is good money for unskilled labor. They were getting slammed with customers and couldn't find anyone to work. She was often called to come in and fill a shift. She was doing college online, but after months of that she was burned out. Also, customers were nasty, nasty, nasty. She said they would literally scream at them in the drive through. Towards the end they were offering her an additional $50 for every hour she worked over her shift. She left weeks earlier then she had originally planned.

We have signs everywhere looking for workers. And the wages have gone up and often with bonuses. If I weren't helping with my 4 yr old grandson, and younger, I would jump on that in a NY minute!

It's not 'unskilled labour'. There is skill required to any job. Unless, that is, you're saying your daughter is unskilled.

It’s crazy! Too many years of the customer is always right have not served us well either.

I'd like to punch in the head the person who coined the phrase. Soooooo many people still think that way.

 

[dez1978]

then their business models need to be adjusted to survive.

I see this comment a lot. But no suggestions of how a business, like McDonalds or any other chain location would do that. Other than just shorten hours or eliminate menu items. And short term those things may be helpful, but they also hurt sales.

 

[meggers628]

I see this comment a lot. But no suggestions of how a business, like McDonalds or any other chain location would do that. Other than just shorten hours or eliminate menu items. And short term those things may be helpful, but they also hurt sales.

Yea, I don’t have an answer for that. But it seems like we’re at a breaking point with the labor shortage, and I really don’t see workers flocking back to the industry anytime soon. So something has to give.

 

[dez1978]

I also think some of the jobs will be filled with automation. There is no reason a human has to take your order at a fast food restaurant, that can all be done on a mobile device or touch screen, and that is true of many jobs. One of the positives to come out of the pandemic is a re-working of processes to make them less human-powered. We have learned that some jobs can be done just as well with less humans and more computers.

I suppose this is one way of changing your business model. But it's not going to work nearly as well in a full service restaurant. And I'm not sure when we switched to the view that it was a positive that machines could take over jobs that humans used to do. Seems like up until just this year everyone was complaining there weren't enough jobs and that we were taking money away from humans and replacing them with computers. I see it every day on fb and other social media platforms where people complain about using self checkout "stop making more of these lanes and hire more people!!!" So now we don't want the jobs for humans, we want to replace them with machines? And then in a year or 2 when the dust settles and people are looking for jobs again, any kind of job, we'll be back to being mad they were replaced with computers. I mean, at this rate, more and more places will figure out how to automate things and once they do, they won't go back. And maybe that will be ok. I just think it's a slippery slope. Right now, its ok bc obviously people aren't hurting too badly for money. But what happens when it rights itself?

It's not 'unskilled labour'. There is skill required to any job. Unless, that is, you're saying your daughter is unskilled.

I worked fast food as a teen, worked in other restaurants for years. Did I learn some skills along the way, sure. How to drop fries in a basket and set a timer, how to use a cash register. But I don't consider those "skilled labor positions". If one teenager can train another teenager how to do something in 2 days, it's not a skilled position. Skilled labor is things like welding, mechanics, emt, police, etc. Where you actually had to get real training and pass tests, or things that it took a really long time to learn how to do from the bottom up. Sure being a manager at a fast food place takes skill, and you learn those things along the way over time, but they also send you to training specifically to gain those skills.

 

[prairie_girl]

I suppose this is one way of changing your business model. But it's not going to work nearly as well in a full service restaurant. And I'm not sure when we switched to the view that it was a positive that machines could take over jobs that humans used to do. Seems like up until just this year everyone was complaining there weren't enough jobs and that we were taking money away from humans and replacing them with computers. I see it every day on fb and other social media platforms where people complain about using self checkout "stop making more of these lanes and hire more people!!!" So now we don't want the jobs for humans, we want to replace them with machines? And then in a year or 2 when the dust settles and people are looking for jobs again, any kind of job, we'll be back to being mad they were replaced with computers. I mean, at this rate, more and more places will figure out how to automate things and once they do, they won't go back. And maybe that will be ok. I just think it's a slippery slope. Right now, its ok bc obviously people aren't hurting too badly for money. But what happens when it rights itself?


I worked fast food as a teen, worked in other restaurants for years. Did I learn some skills along the way, sure. How to drop fries in a basket and set a timer, how to use a cash register. But I don't consider those "skilled labor positions". If one teenager can train another teenager how to do something in 2 days, it's not a skilled position. Skilled labor is things like welding, mechanics, emt, police, etc. Where you actually had to get real training and pass tests, or things that it took a really long time to learn how to do from the bottom up. Sure being a manager at a fast food place takes skill, and you learn those things along the way over time, but they also send you to training specifically to gain those skills.

I see time management, and able to perform financial transactions. Both skills…

 

[Planogirl]

Dealing with the public without choking any of them is also a skill.

 

[dez1978]

Yea, I don’t have an answer for that. But it seems like we’re at a breaking point with the labor shortage, and I really don’t see workers flocking back to the industry anytime soon. So something has to give.

Yea, it's one of those things everyone says, but no one has any ideas of how to do it. And I agree about being at the breaking point. I just think eventually people will want those jobs back, or teenager/college kids will and they won't be there anymore bc they'll have been replaced by machines or the businesses will have closed. And I'm sure overall, the economy will survive and other things will come along to replace the businesses that closed. I just feel bad for the business owners who won't survive to see it turn around.

 

[dez1978]

Dealing with the public without choking any of them is also a skill.

Ok you got me with this one lol. This def is a skill. But I didn't say they didn't learn ANY skills. I said I wouldn't consider that a skilled position. Theres a difference.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I worked fast food as a teen, worked in other restaurants for years. Did I learn some skills along the way, sure. How to drop fries in a basket and set a timer, how to use a cash register. But I don't consider those "skilled labor positions". If one teenager can train another teenager how to do something in 2 days, it's not a skilled position. Skilled labor is things like welding, mechanics, emt, police, etc. Where you actually had to get real training and pass tests, or things that it took a really long time to learn how to do from the bottom up. Sure being a manager at a fast food place takes skill, and you learn those things along the way over time, but they also send you to training specifically to gain those skills.

I think you and I tend to agree on most things I just can't get behind the skilled vs unskilled.

Learning any task, no matter what, takes something for someone to do. Not everyone is good at everything, that doesn't mean they are unskilled. One of the best things in these jobs is dealing with a variety of people and problem solving. Is every employee the best at that? No but it is a skill you learn while on the job.

I think the conversation devolves because people tend to talk down to those holding jobs like these and making it like they are an inferior person because they don't do some other jobs. Also the definition one uses for skilled vs unskilled. Components to a job vary it doesn't make someone in an unskilled position. I could train you quickly to do my insurance job, I mean it was weeks of training for each part (auto, home, east coast expansion, etc) but you could condense that. You could learn to look at policy backs, use google, look up county assessor webpages, you could learn the 1980s IMB program fairly quickly honestly but I swear if one person says that job was unskilled I'll shoot them lol..because trust me that call center taking phone calls dealing with agents from 35 different states (some with old school oh get me to someone..aka a male..who knows what they were talking about even though I knew what I was doing) for 8 hours a day def. carried skill. And so did my retail jobs just different things going on.

 

[soccerdad72]

"skilled" and "unskilled" labor is more of an industry term (and probably not the best choice of words):

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/...a prolonged period of training and experience.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I see this comment a lot. But no suggestions of how a business, like McDonalds or any other chain location would do that. Other than just shorten hours or eliminate menu items. And short term those things may be helpful, but they also hurt sales.

Some business owners may have to accept the fact that they no longer have a viable business, if they can't adjust to the times. That would be devasting, but it may be their reality.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Some business owners may have to accept the fact that they no longer have a viable business, if they can't adjust to the times. That would be devasting, but it may be their reality.

Yes, a part of me thinks that this is a bit of a "thinning of the herd" kind of phenomenon. Some businesses won't be able to make the transition. And some of that may be due to what others have mentioned...population moving quickly from urban areas to suburban areas and service businesses of all kinds not able to handle demand as our society fully opens up. I think the pendulum is already swinging back a bit to people moving back to the city, but to those who decided to make a more permanent move to the suburbs....there's going to be some adjustments for all. One thing about a pandemic in modern times, and especially within countries/regions....people seem to move from one residence to another....whether that's out of the country, to the suburbs, or from an apartment back to a multifamily situation...it's all in play now. I'm thinking this wasn't the case in 1918. I know that for this entire pandemic we've heard about what happened in Philadephia vs. St. Louis back then.....and that was just with respect to dropping mitigation measures too soon. But man...when you take out all of the pain and suffering, this pandemic is fascinating in a lot of ways to watch as it unfolds.

 

[spiders]

All workers deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their skill level. However, there is still a skill level no matter how much you want to pretend that there isn’t. If a job can be done by the 16 year old after 4 hours of training then that’s why the job doesn’t pay well. All jobs are replaceable, some require more time than others.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If a job can be done by the 16 year old after 4 hours of training then that’s why the job doesn’t pay well.

Even that though is an oversimplification.

Have you not ever seen where a job requires degrees and then pays crap? Or where it requires years worth of experience but pays crap?

Of course everyone here can say "well then don't take that job" IRL it's never as simple as that and I don't always blame the employer (though there are plenty of instances you really can and should).

 

[notatallmagic]

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?

Fast food here has $500 signing bonuses payable at 90 days; a local amusement park is starting workers at $20/hour with a $1000 signing bonus.

 

[dez1978]

All workers deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their skill level. However, there is still a skill level no matter how much you want to pretend that there isn’t. If a job can be done by the 16 year old after 4 hours of training then that’s why the job doesn’t pay well. All jobs are replaceable, some require more time than others.

this was what I was trying to say. I never said it didn’t take ANY skills to work fast food. But something a 16 year old can do on day 1 of the job is not a skilled position.

I think you and I tend to agree on most things I just can't get behind the skilled vs unskilled.

Learning any task, no matter what, takes something for someone to do. Not everyone is good at everything, that doesn't mean they are unskilled. One of the best things in these jobs is dealing with a variety of people and problem solving. Is every employee the best at that? No but it is a skill you learn while on the job.

I think the conversation devolves because people tend to talk down to those holding jobs like these and making it like they are an inferior person because they don't do some other jobs. Also the definition one uses for skilled vs unskilled. Components to a job vary it doesn't make someone in an unskilled position. I could train you quickly to do my insurance job, I mean it was weeks of training for each part (auto, home, east coast expansion, etc) but you could condense that. You could learn to look at policy backs, use google, look up county assessor webpages, you could learn the 1980s IMB program fairly quickly honestly but I swear if one person says that job was unskilled I'll shoot them lol..because trust me that call center taking phone calls dealing with agents from 35 different states (some with old school oh get me to someone..aka a male..who knows what they were talking about even though I knew what I was doing) for 8 hours a day def. carried skill. And so did my retail jobs just different things going on.

But I would consider that insurance job a skilled position bc it took time to learn and specialized training to learn the details. Much more time and training than it takes to ring up a cash register or drop fries in a basket. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with working fast food or retail. But the pay is commensurate with the skills it requires and the amount of work it takes to learn those skills.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

this was what I was trying to say. I never said it didn’t take ANY skills to work fast food. But something a 16 year old can do on day 1 of the job is not a skilled position.

But I would consider that insurance job a skilled position bc it took time to learn and specialized training to learn the details. Much more time and training than it takes to ring up a cash register or drop fries in a basket. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with working fast food or retail. But the pay is commensurate with the skills it requires and the amount of work it takes to learn those skills.

To the bolded:

Even that though is an oversimplification.

Have you not ever seen where a job requires degrees and then pays crap? Or where it requires years worth of experience but pays crap?

Of course everyone here can say "well then don't take that job" IRL it's never as simple as that and I don't always blame the employer (though there are plenty of instances you really can and should).

It's an easy answer to say you just are paid to the equivalent of what the expected skill is but that's not really how it ends up being for many cases when you look more closely.

I think talking about pay=level of skill is part of the issue, that's probably why I disagree (in this case) with how you were talking about it (which to be fair is totally okay we don't see it in the same light ).

 

[mrodgers]

Some business owners may have to accept the fact that they no longer have a viable business, if they can't adjust to the times. That would be devasting, but it may be their reality.

That would be fantastic for our economy. Work to get all small private owned businesses to fail so it can all be big corporations. Mmm, yum, nothing but the high quality Applebees to eat at. Nothing but Chinese junk at Walmart to buy. Never build a straight structure again with the warped garbage from Lowes and Home Depot. All the jobs lost by those who do want to work. The future sounds fantastic.

 

[ChrisFL]

Admittedly I've never worked at a fast food place, but I've seen enough of them to realize that if you're having to deal with drive thru orders, trying to hear/understand what they're saying, put it into the system correctly, organize the food/drinks properly, give them straws, condiments if they ask, put up with impatient and angry customers (we've seen the videos of people climbing through the drive-thru windows when they're mad)...it seems like a skill to me.

I do think it's better that certain companies are splitting up the payment window and the pick up window, but I've also seen times where it's one employee literally running back and forth between them!