Despite minimum wage hike, fast-food hiring hits record high in SoCal: O.C. Register

Despite the dire warnings of the business community, the recent increase to fast-food workers’ minimum wage doesn’t seem to be impacting hiring.

In April, minimum wage for fast-food workers jumped to $20 per hour , but despite that, “Employment Development Department numbers show [Southern California] had 361,500 fast food workers in June – an all-time staffing high for these dining establishments that employ 4.5% of all Southern California’s workers,” Jonathan Lansner noted in an Orange County Register column .

Despite business owners’ threats that they’d have to halt hiring or even cut staff, “job stats show fast-food employment rose by 400 in June and is up 7,600 since March – just before the wage hike,” Lansner wrote. “Plus, staffing’s up 3,000 in a year.”

And as for owners’ other threat of raising prices? That isn’t going their way either.

On Monday, McDonald’s announced it’s extending a $5 value meal promotion due to high demand for affordable fast-food amid inflation.

Other chains are also pursuing customers using discounted meals priced to more closely resemble the menus of years past.

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