Comment by robertlagrant

20 days ago

Is there no truth to the California fast food restaurant closure wave I heard about when they raised fast food minimum wage to $20/hour?

It’s not really clear. First, a lot of the criticism that restaurants are closing are from restaurants that would have closed anyway [1].

> The biggest expense Rubio’s has been facing is debt — a burden that has grown since the chain was acquired in 2010 by the private equity firm Mill Road Capital

There’s an argument to be made that maybe the number of jobs in the fast food sector has decreased. But that’s also a myopic view since we need to know the labor situation statewide. Someone not in a fast food job might have found employment elsewhere which isn’t a bad thing, especially since the workers who do have those jobs are being paid a livable wage.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-06-12/the-fast-f...