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McDonald's Tries to Help Its Minimum Wage Workers

As I drove down Beach Blvd. yesterday, I saw a sign in the IN N Out window, they are starting people at $10.50/hour, offering free meals and benefits for FT workers.

Why can't MCD's do the same?
 
Ball State Deac said:
I love the "as a fat person," that's great.
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I don't make it a habit of eating fast food, but I certainly don't avoid it like I should either. Anyway, I know who works there, and it's definitely not just high schoolers and immigrants.
 
Deacon923 said:
Even if we take as gospel the assertion that anybody can work their way out of min wage jobs, does it not bother any self identified board conservative that the taxpayers are subsidizing the McDonald's business model by providing the basic necessities (esp. Healthcare) that McDonald's refuses to provide to its workforce? McDonald's makes higher profits because government aid allows its workforce to make ends meet.
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This is the real issue. How do you combat it? Raising minimum wage seems to be a short term solution as any short term prosperity for the earners will get burned up in inflation. Plus, McDonalds as a corporation isn't employing the majority of these minimum wage folks. It is the franchisee. While those guys can ton it if they have a lot of stores, they aren't printing money like McDonalds corporate.
 
Another instance of private industry being far superior to government.
 
bmoneydeac said:
This is the real issue. How do you combat it? Raising minimum wage seems to be a short term solution as any short term prosperity for the earners will get burned up in inflation. Plus, McDonalds as a corporation isn't employing the majority of these minimum wage folks. It is the franchisee. While those guys can ton it if they have a lot of stores, they aren't printing money like McDonalds corporate.
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How many McDonald's franchisees do you know?

To even get started they require you to have a net worth in excess of $750,000. http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/franchising/FAQs.html Yes, McDonald’s continually seeks qualified individuals to become franchisees. Since the total cost varies from restaurant to restaurant, the minimum amount for a down payment will vary. Generally, we require a minimum of $750,000 of non-borrowed personal resources to consider you for a franchise. For more information about purchasing and financing a McDonald’s Franchise, please see the U.S. Franchising Home Page.

I couldn't quickly get their franchise disclosure document to find out average franchisee income, but I am pretty confident the franchisees are doing quite well.

Personally the lesson I take from this is not that we need to force franchisees to pay more, but rather that we as a society need to admit that the bootstraps narrative is largely bullshit. From that admission, one comes to accept the need to direct resources at supporting and improving the lot of the working poor, in a smart way. Passing laws like ACA that directly incentivize businesses like McDonald's to rely on part-time, no-benefits workers is an example of a dumb way for government to interfere in the market. Housing and childcare support, or healthcare support not tied to employment, would be better ideas.
 
RJKarl said:
As I drove down Beach Blvd. yesterday, I saw a sign in the IN N Out window, they are starting people at $10.50/hour, offering free meals and benefits for FT workers.

Why can't MCD's do the same?
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Private company vs. one of world's largest public companies.
 
That has nothing to do with anything. They are in the same industry and have very similar individual site costs. If anything the size of McDonald's should be able to bring down costs to franchisees on everything from product to advertising.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
What's the difference between trying to live and "trying to make a decent career"? It's clear from that budget that working a full time job at McDonalds at minimum wage isn't enough to support oneself.
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Most of us (I would think, I know I did) worked for years at food places for minimum wage during school or for several years after school while trying to pursue our actual career. It is a job to make money to live in a shitty apartment with a shitty car and eat shitty food so you don't die and aren't on the street, but I don't think many viewed being the fry guy as our actual career goals.
 
RJKarl said:
That has nothing to do with anything. They are in the same industry and have very similar individual site costs. If anything the size of McDonald's should be able to bring down costs to franchisees on everything from product to advertising.
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McDonald's has to answer to shareholders. That's the rub. This is like a basic tenet of business, so I'm not going to argue any further why In-N-Out, a regional private company, has different priorities than the world's largest restaurant chain.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Most of us (I would think, I know I did) worked for years at food places for minimum wage during school or for several years after school while trying to pursue our actual career. It is a job to make money to live in a shitty apartment with a shitty car and eat shitty food so you don't die and aren't on the street, but I don't think many viewed being the fry guy as our actual career goals.
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I doubt very people in the world view being the fry-guy as their career goal. I believe a person working full time should be compensated with a living wage, and my political druthers would have the employer pay that entire wage, rather than dole out 7.25 per hour and force the government to provide food stamps, etc. to compensate.
 
bigdoublezero said:
McDonald's has to answer to shareholders. That's the rub. This is like a basic tenet of business, so I'm not going to argue any further why In-N-Out, a regional private company, has different priorities than the world's largest restaurant chain.
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McDonald's doesn't own the stores.
 
Deacon923 said:
How many McDonald's franchisees do you know?

To even get started they require you to have a net worth in excess of $750,000. http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/franchising/FAQs.html Yes, McDonald’s continually seeks qualified individuals to become franchisees. Since the total cost varies from restaurant to restaurant, the minimum amount for a down payment will vary. Generally, we require a minimum of $750,000 of non-borrowed personal resources to consider you for a franchise. For more information about purchasing and financing a McDonald’s Franchise, please see the U.S. Franchising Home Page.

I couldn't quickly get their franchise disclosure document to find out average franchisee income, but I am pretty confident the franchisees are doing quite well.

Personally the lesson I take from this is not that we need to force franchisees to pay more, but rather that we as a society need to admit that the bootstraps narrative is largely bullshit. From that admission, one comes to accept the need to direct resources at supporting and improving the lot of the working poor, in a smart way. Passing laws like ACA that directly incentivize businesses like McDonald's to rely on part-time, no-benefits workers is an example of a dumb way for government to interfere in the market. Housing and childcare support, or healthcare support not tied to employment, would be better ideas.
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I know 3 folks that are pretty big franchisees for different fast food chains. Again, they make good money, mostly because they have a lot of stores. If you look at a per store level, it would be very impactful to add much more to their payroll expense.
 
RJKarl said:
As I drove down Beach Blvd. yesterday, I saw a sign in the IN N Out window, they are starting people at $10.50/hour, offering free meals and benefits for FT workers.

Why can't MCD's do the same?
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I've never been to an In N Out, but is there food more expensive than McD's?
 
bmoneydeac said:
I've never been to an In N Out, but is there food more expensive than McD's?
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A little more expensive. Known for using better quality ingredients. They also have an army of employees at each store.
 
bmoneydeac said:
I've never been to an In N Out, but is there food more expensive than McD's?
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Within the fudge factor. It's about the same price as Hardee's/Carl's Jr. I'm not sure if In N Out has a $1 menu.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Most of us (I would think, I know I did) worked for years at food places for minimum wage during school or for several years after school while trying to pursue our actual career. It is a job to make money to live in a shitty apartment with a shitty car and eat shitty food so you don't die and aren't on the street, but I don't think many viewed being the fry guy as our actual career goals.
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Two responses:

1. It's pretty hard to live in those shitty circumstances on McDonald's wages.
2. Some people are trying to raise families while they pursue their actual careers.
 
PhDeac said:
Two responses:

1. It's pretty hard to live in those shitty circumstances on McDonald's wages.
2. Some people are trying to raise families while they pursue their actual careers.
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3. Some people are just born unsmart and no amount of striving is going to qualify them for much more than a minimum wage job.
4. Some people get caught in the dragnet of our stupid drug laws and that disqualifies them for anything more than a minimum wage job.
 
PhDeac said:
Two responses:

1. It's pretty hard to live in those shitty circumstances on McDonald's wages.
2. Some people are trying to raise families while they pursue their actual careers.
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Deacon923 said:
3. Some people are just born unsmart and no amount of striving is going to qualify them for much more than a minimum wage job.
4. Some people get caught in the dragnet of our stupid drug laws and that disqualifies them for anything more than a minimum wage job.
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1. Agreed, which is a kick in the ass for most people to get their shit together.
2. Agreed, but McDonald's didn't tell them to start a family before they got their shit together.
3. Agreed. Such is life and natural selection.
4. Agreed. But there are plenty of stupid laws, and non-stupid people do their best to avoid them no matter how much they may disagree with them. Most people aren't disqualified for non-minimum-wage jobs based on one petty drug offense. If you are truly disqualified, that likely means you are a repeat offender, which goes to #3.
 
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