Where have all America’s workers gone?

Re:Where have all America’s workers gone? by chongli on Saturday January 28, 2023 @12:06AM (#34555338)

Restaurants are notorious for being among the most difficult small businesses to keep afloat. Unless you’re a big fast food franchisee, you were lucky to make it through COVID without going under. I can’t tell you how many local family-owned and operated restaurants disappeared in my area alone during COVID. At the same time, McDonald’s and Starbucks were busier than ever cranking out orders for Uber Eats.

The biggest cost for small restaurants is rent. During COVID all of their dine-in traffic disappeared. At the same time, they got zero breaks on their rent so they ended up paying out the nose and getting nothing for their money. They could’ve handled the same orders operating out of a cheap ghost kitchen in some warehouse district.

Even outside of the black swan that was COVID, running a restaurant is skating on thin ice. Most don’t make it and those who do tend to be high-end restaurants with longstanding wealthy clientele. These fancy places haven’t had any trouble at all hiring servers because the tips are very generous. But for mom and pop taco shop? That’s a tough one!

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Re:Where have all America’s workers gone? by seanp2k2 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @01:02AM (#34565386)

Extra fun in California is Prop 13 for businesses that basically caps their property tax at 1975 values thereby making any meaningful new competition impossible to establish at the same rates. This is why you see quite a few “old school” restaurants still around in the Bay Area while new places must charge much more for the exact same product, in the same market, possibly right next door: they’re paying a ton more in property tax.

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