Pittsburgh Ice Cream Shop Couldn't Find Staff, Then Doubled Wage to $15, Flooded w 1K Applicants

[appalachiablue]

'A Pittsburgh ice cream shop couldn't find staff. Then it doubled its wage to $15 and was flooded with applications.' May 20, 2021, Yahoo. Business Insider.
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-- It's not just big businesses hiking wages to attract workers, but small ones too.

As big businesses like Chipotle & Target offer higher starting wages to attract workers, small employers are following suit. Jacob Hanchar, co-owner of Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor in Pittsburgh, spoke with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle about how
> he thought there was a labor shortage until he more than doubled his shop's hourly wage from the federal minimum of $7.25 to $15.

"We received well over 1,000 applications" in one week for 16 positions, Hanchar said. "We stopped counting once we reached a thousand."

He explained that the decision has been a net positive for the business, especially in the food-service industry where high turnover and burnout are major workplace challenges. "A lot of people work 2 or 3 jobs and now they are just working one job, so people are showing up on time now, they're reporting to work in a better mood, customer service has improved, things like that that you don't always account for," he told Ruhle.

Financially, Hanchar said the move to double employee pay has led to increased sales from customers who want to support businesses that support employees, and that the quality of service has gone up.

"At the end of the day, I have not noticed a difference on our bottom line," he said.

The decision was neither easy nor automatic, he added, but competition from other employers was causing him to lose his best workers, and that was causing issues in other areas of the shop's operations. "I had to really study this in-depth and really take a look at our forecasts and really think through how I was going to manage this," he said. "It's not just strict, double-book accounting, you have to take every aspect into account." ~

https://news.yahoo.com/pittsburgh-ice-cream-shop-couldnt-162813898.html

[nykym]

1. Gee Whiz

who would have thought...

The Biden Administration should have all these business owners relate their experience.

[Moostache]

2. The virtuous / vicious cycles need to be promoted throughout local economies...

Power to the people comes from the wallet and where dollars are spent and then how they are circulated. Dollars circulated as wages and spending power, invigorate a local economy. Dollars hoarded and extracted as profits do nothing for the local economies and only enrich a very few.

If people make it unprofitable for an owner to cheat the employees to enhance their own bottom line (vicious cycle) and simultaneously support the owners who are paying a living wage and supporting the local economy in the process (virtuous cycle) then we could see a lot of changes to the social contract.

In the end, as long as the rewards are there to be taken, unscrupulous businessmen will 100% take the money and run...but if their short and long term prospects dim because of a lack of support, they will be out of business.

[spooky3]

3. It's not rocket surgery. It's Econ 101. Nt

[riversedge]

4. I will gladly pay a little extra to ensure good wages for workers.

[Demovictory9]

5. Great story

[amywalk]

6. I think McDonalds couldn't find workers until they raised their wages to $18.00 an hour.

[IronLionZion]

7. It's almost as if workers would appreciate a living wage for their work

[BigmanPigman]

10. Imagine that!

Paying someone what they are worth and what is "livable" never occurred to this guy and a zillion other greedy business people big and small. They have gotten away with murder since the 70s when the pay gap really began to widen. They haven't shown workers respect and unions are almost gone. Greedy businesses break my heart.

[Grokenstein]

8. And suddenly...it CAN be done!

Buh buh buh we were told it couldn't!!

[Ziggysmom]

9. People making higher wages are not just happier,

they are healthier, too! Being able to work fewer hours with better pay reduces stress. I knew several people who had to work two jobs to make ends meet and their health as well as their families really suffered.

Hope Joe visits this place for a cone or two! 🍦🍦

[Sucha NastyWoman]

11. A living wage

Don’t go back to work without it!

[MontanaMama]

12. For pete's sake...

this is common sense. I pay my teenager 15 bucks an hour for extra chores around the house.

[Midnight Writer]

13. I read Fast Food Nation a few years back. It said a fast food franchise sees a complete 100%

turnover of employees every 6 months. The average stay of an individual employee is less than 3 months.

Makes sense. If you are making minimum wage, why try to do well on your job? If you lose it, you just go down the street to the next franchise and get another job. It all pays the same.

Higher wages and benefits make for better employee performance. It gives them a vested interest in doing well, as opposed to resentment of your employer screwing you over every day.

For a real life example, go to a Sam's Club (low wage) and a Costco (higher wages and benefits) and observe the difference in employee attitudes. Same business type, same markets, but the difference is night and day.