McDonalds.....Don't Eat the Food!

[DT86]

Can't say I feel sorry for them.

Me either. I'd be content to have a cool million in the bank.

 

[LowTowBoy]

I liked the advice for Mcdonalds employees- that taking 2 vacations a year would help reduce stress...

That's a shame that those Micky d's workers are under so much stress and need 2 vacations a year. I work 80+ hours in 5 days trucking, haven't had a vacation in several years and ready to snap like a twig, but my industry doesn't make a comment such as this. Time to start flipping burgers I guess.

 

[Markcuda]

Monday, when I go back to work, I am a welder, I am going to ask my supervisor
for a 3 dollar raise and a week extra vacation.

 

[sixdogs]

My thoughts are that the advice is offered in the manner of constantly eating it vice the occasional eating of it. IMHO, if an employee can only get a minimum wage job, can't get raises and advancement and can't get a better job, then they need more help than just nutritional and stress management advice.

Agreed. The cost of food cooked at home is surely cheaper than paying someone the labor price to do all the heavy lifting and then paying them to serve it to you on a platter. Paying to eat out in a low income job where you work is not financially prudent.

If I were broke and working for McD's, I would first keep my living costs as low as possible and then springboard that job experience into a different career path where I could work my way up the ladder to better pay and the things that go with it.

McD's has always been a training ground for youth looking to gain work experience into the real world. Those looking to turn it into a meaningful and long term job won't change that premise.

 

[caver]

I went to the restroom at Mcdonalds and a sign on the wall said "employees must wash hands"

I waited for an hour but no-one came, so I washed my own.

I was in a dirty restroom at some convenience store in Missouri. They had one of those bumper stickers near the sink that said "dirty hands spread disease etc." Someone took a marker and crossed out hands and wrote restrooms. I got a chuckle out of it and wish I had a camera at the time.

 

[smstonypoint]

If my back of the envelope math and logic are reasonably correct (always iffy :laughing, raising wages from $8 to $15 per hour costs a customer $1.10 on a $5 order, all else remaining equal.

Dave,

As you know, there has been a good deal of media chatter regarding the effects on McDonald's pricing if their labor costs increased. A point raised by many economists is that other things aren't going to remain equal.

For the sake of argument, let's say that your calculations are correct and that raising wages would increase all fast food prices by 20% (rounded). What's going to happen to fast food sales? The answer depends on the own-price elasticity of demand for fast foods. My brief search turned up an estimate of -1.9 (rounded) based on data for 1992 (http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/31162/1/26010058.pdf).* Using that estimate, increasing prices by 20% would decrease the number of meals sold by 38%. That means a lot fewer people would be required to flip burgers.

Economic theory predicts that firms will substitute capital for labor when the price of labor (the wage rate) increases relative to the price of capital (the interest rate). Automation of the ordering and preparation process will further decrease the demand for fast food labor (e.g., Momentum Machines | The Next Industrial Revolution).

Steve

* I was in graduate school with one of the authors, so I know he was well trained.

 

[caver]

I noticed when I would eat at MCD's that I would feel like crap shortly after. I remind myself when I get the urge to eat there again.

 

[LowTowBoy]

I was in a dirty restroom at some convenience store in Missouri. They had one of those bumper stickers near the sink that said "dirty hands spread disease etc." Someone took a marker and crossed out hands and wrote restrooms. I got a chuckle out of it and wish I had a camera at the time.

Recently saw one of those turbo charged, high velocity hand dryers with a label someone took the time to have made up stuck to it that said, "To hear something from the President, hold hands here..."

Thought that was just downright hystarical myself...:rotfl::rotfl:

 

[smstonypoint]

Only Henry Ford had the audacity to pay his workers a living wage so "they could afford to buy the products they made". He seemed to be the only one of the barons that got the bigger picture of life.

Really?

Why did he raise the wages he paid his workers? PR statements to the contrary, it was about the bottom line -- paying higher wages than other employers resulted in lower employee turnover, reduced training costs, etc. See The Story of Henry Ford's $5 a Day Wages: It's Not What You Think - Forbes.

Steve

 

[ray66v]

This is as stupid a controversy as they get.

What McDonald's said to their employees was that, they should not eat fast food everyday. This is shocking news? Who hasn't heard that at this point?

For most people, there is nothing wrong with eating fast food in moderation.

To my knowledge, McDonald's has never argued, or suggested the public eat fast food everyday. In fact, they have made statements in the past, particularly when they have been challenged in court, against eating less healthy options everyday.

They do have "healthy" alternatives on their menu. If people choose not to eat them, and want to enjoy a less healthy option, what are they supposed to do, keep track of their intake, and then tell the customer they have had their limit?? :confused2:

If you don't want McDonald's food, that's great. Don't eat it. The lines will be shorter lines when I go there. :thumbsup: