Yet another former CEO is warning of the consequences of the $15 minimum wage. Ex-McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi recently warned that the subjectively high minimum wage is a job-killer.
Rensi explained that the massive increase in labor costs forces employers to look for other options to cut costs. All too often, that means reducing the number of employees.
While $15 minimum wage zealots will want to write Rensi off as a corporate lackey, it’s already happening.
McDonalds is increasingly replacing workers with self-service kiosks. And, as some innovators point out, machines that “actually make the food are not far behind.”
Wendy’s Company has already announced plans to install kiosks as a response to artificially high minimum wages, resulting in fewer entry-level jobs.
The movement toward self-service kiosks only exacerbates existing problems associated with artificially high minimum wages.
As a University of Washington professor recently warned, Seattle’s $15 minimum wage places young, inexperienced and unskilled workers in “a tough position.” If businesses are going to pay employees as much as $15 per hour, they aren’t “taking a chance on a teenager, they are looking for a more experienced worker to fill that job.”
With machines reducing the amount of workers needed, the job prospects for inexperienced, young workers looks bleaker.
But that’s OK with the $15 minimum crowd, as their motivation is to help unions, not young workers.
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