Pizza hut lays off all its drivers just because minimum wage was increased.

[9-10ths_Penguin]

That's not really what the point was about.

This is not about how you treat people in social situations.
This is about how I "owe" them a job.

If tomorrow I have no more use for employee X or if my business would be better of without employee X, why would I keep him/her and throw money out the window?

I am not a charity.

Depends.

Losing institutional knowledge is a cost itself. It can work out better to keep an employee through a temporary downturn to make sure that you have their knowledge when times are better.

Also, businesses are made up of people, and people will interact based on relationships. If you establish that your relationship with your employees is purely transactional where you try to extract as much value as possible from them, don't be surprised when your employees also treat their relationship with you as purely transactional and try to extract as much value as possible from you.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

I'm familiar enough with the fact that most mega-corporations do tend to generate massive profit far more often than they lose money, but your question touched on a different topic than that.

I don't know much about many of those big-*** companies... But as a software engineer, I do know a thing or two about companies like msft as I know several people that work there as software engineers (= the people who actually generate the value in a software house like msft).

I can assure you they are paid extremely well.
Msft belgium has no problems at all finding people.

Every other software company has problems filling all vacancies. Msft has so many applicants, they need to turn people down.

Don't know about their main office in the US off course, but I see no reason to assume it's any different over there.

 

[☆Dreamwind☆]

Well that's just grand. -_-

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm familiar enough with the fact that most mega-corporations do tend to generate massive profit far more often than they lose money, but your question touched on a different topic than that.

Check my edit. I point out that making massive
profit more often than they lose will still mean
that when they lose, they very often go out of
business.
Your argument is analogous to playing Russian
Roulette for money. One can profit with each
win, but one bad round closes the enterprise.
A business's death spiral begins when they
assume profit is inevitable.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Depends.

Losing institutional knowledge is a cost itself. It can work out better to keep an employee through a temporary downturn to make sure that you have their knowledge when times are better.

Obviously. When I say "i have no use for employee x anymore" or "company is better off without x", then I take the above into account.
If the loss of that know-how or expertise is bad in the long run (even only potentially), then the company is obviously NOT better off without X. Nor would the statement "i have no use for x" be true at that point.

Also, businesses are made up of people, and people will interact based on relationships. If you establish that your relationship with your employees is purely transactional where you try to extract as much value as possible from them, don't be surprised when your employees also treat their relationship with you as purely transactional and try to extract as much value as possible from you.

I have no problem with that at all.
The value they get to extract from my company will be directly proportional to the value I get to extract from them.
So if they do a good job and be of value to the company, they will definitely succeed in extracting that value from the company.

Obviously, being a small company, there is a social interaction there. They are not mere numbers on a screen or piece of paper.
But they are not my "friends"-friends.
I will never employ "friends"-friends or family.

I keep that distance. It's a business relation after all.
That doesn't mean it needs to be cold and distant. But it does mean they won't be the best man at my wedding.

 

[JIMMY12345]

It's only in California, but I'm sure everybody knows Pizza Hut chains make more than enough money to accommodate all employees, including the minimum wage increase.

This is just a disgusting show of
Incredible greed and disregard for the working people that had made that made this chain successful and without them Pizza Hut would not even be around.

Great way to show thanks and appreciation from the management at Pizza hut around Christmas to their workers.

MSN

Hate to say.In 10 years AI drone technology will deliver pizza.Like the space shuttle it will dock with a pad on the house roof.The lorries will drive themselves.Politicians need to start the debate.What will humans do? play cards all day one ration of state pizza?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Hate to say.In 10 years AI drone technology will deliver pizza.Like the space shuttle it will dock with a pad on the house roof.The lorries will drive themselves.Politicians need to start the debate.What will humans do? play cards all day one ration of state pizza?

You've hit on one of the arguments for universal basic income.

Universal basic income - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Revoltingest]

It's only in California, but I'm sure everybody knows Pizza Hut chains make more than enough money to accommodate all employees, including the minimum wage increase.

This is just a disgusting show of
Incredible greed and disregard for the working people that had made that made this chain successful and without them Pizza Hut would not even be around.

Great way to show thanks and appreciation from the management at Pizza hut around Christmas to their workers.

MSN

I'm surprised to see you take the liberal view,
only to misunderstand how to properly apply it.
Liberals tell me....
"Businesses that can't afford to pay a living wage shouldn't exist."
Pizza Hut has now fired employees who made a lousy wage.
This is progress.
Now those employees are free to find jobs that pay much more.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I have no problem with that at all.
The value they get to extract from my company will be directly proportional to the value I get to extract from them.
So if they do a good job and be of value to the company, they will definitely succeed in extracting that value from the company.

Obviously, being a small company, there is a social interaction there. They are not mere numbers on a screen or piece of paper.
But they are not my "friends"-friends.
I will never employ "friends"-friends or family.

I keep that distance. It's a business relation after all.
That doesn't mean it needs to be cold and distant. But it does mean they won't be the best man at my wedding.

Heh... you're describing some of the most unpleasant workplaces I've ever worked in.

I've worked at engineering firms that were entirely profit-driven. They were awful places to spend your whole working day.

I've also worked at engineering firms that put a big emphasis on professional development and providing opportunities for meaningful work. Way more appealing places to be.

... and ironically, the entirely profit-driven ones didn't do as well financially.

 

[George-ananda]

It's only in California, but I'm sure everybody knows Pizza Hut chains make more than enough money to accommodate all employees, including the minimum wage increase.

This is just a disgusting show of
Incredible greed and disregard for the working people that had made that made this chain successful and without them Pizza Hut would not even be around.

Great way to show thanks and appreciation from the management at Pizza hut around Christmas to their workers.

MSN

Why should Pizza Hut accept a financial loss on delivery service? They are in a rather competitive industry.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Why should Pizza Hut accept a financial loss on delivery service? They are in a rather competitive industry.

What makes you think that Pizza Hut was operating their delivery service at a loss?

 

[Revoltingest]

I've worked at engineering firms that were entirely profit-driven. They were awful places to spend your whole working day.

They must've been Canuckistanian.
I've worked for many such companies here, &
have found them to have been good workplaces.

We each bring our attitudes with us to work.

 

[Revoltingest]

Why should Pizza Hut accept a financial loss on delivery service? They are in a rather competitive industry.

Even if human delivery is profitable, they
should always seek to be more competitive.
The real question...
Should they keep un-needed employees
when new tools are more profitable?

 

[George-ananda]

What makes you think that Pizza Hut was operating their delivery service at a loss?

As I understood the OP I commented on, the new minimum wage requirement for drivers caused them to forecast a financial loss in operating delivery service so they suspended the service.

 

[☆Dreamwind☆]

I suppose they'll either become a dine-in only restaurant like Roundtable, or a pick-up only like Little Caeser. Which leaves what? Domino's, Pan Piper, and local chains I haven't heard of. I don't remember if Papa John's delivers or not?

 

[libre]

If they can't pay their workers a decent wage, it means they have to many employees and let go some of them so that there is enough money to pay the rest a decent wage, instead of going bankrupt in a scenario where EVERYBODY loses?

I agree.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As I understood the OP I commented on, the new minimum wage requirement for drivers caused them to forecast a financial loss in operating delivery service so they suspended the service.

The article never says that either of the franchisees would suffer a financial loss; it only says that their expenses would increase.

 

[George-ananda]

The article never says that either of the franchisees would suffer a financial loss; it only says that their expenses would increase.

I employed a little logic that they would not drop a forecasted profit making service.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I employed a little logic that they would not drop a profit making service.

They aren't dropping delivery service; they're outsourcing it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Hate to say.In 10 years AI drone technology will deliver pizza.Like the space shuttle it will dock with a pad on the house roof.The lorries will drive themselves.Politicians need to start the debate.What will humans do? play cards all day one ration of state pizza?

That would be interesting. Your lunch via parachute drop!