Employees prepare food orders at a Portillo’s restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.
Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images
More than half of U.S. states will hike their minimum wage this year, but some restaurant workers could see even bigger gains in 2023.
California’s state minimum wage rose to $15.50 an hour on Jan. 1, but depending on the results of an ongoing court battle, fast-food workers in the state could find themselves earning as much as $22 an hour this year. And industry lobbyists say similar legislation could pass in states like New York and Michigan.
Higher pay has been bars’ and eateries’ primary solution to attracting enough workers to meet demand. The restaurant industry was already struggling with a labor crunch before the pandemic turned the problem into a full-blown crisis.
In recent months, the labor shortage has eased but hasn’t completely disappeared. Employment at eating and drinking places was down 3.9% in November compared with February 2020 when adjusted for seasonality, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, average hourly wages for the industry have climbed 21% in the same period, reaching a projected $18.99 in November. And while labor costs are hard to cut since restaurants need enough workers to keep up with orders, other costs to keeping a restaurant open, like ingredients and electricity, have also grown more expensive, further eating into operators’ profits.
If California’s government has...
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