Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Quote of the Day

Boost Productivity to Control Labor Costs

Most restaurateurs know there are simply not enough qualified applicants for the positions they need to fill.

It would seem that our country's many colleges are not pumping out enough food preparation and serving workers yet.

Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers

2010 Median Pay: $18,130 per year
Entry-Level Education: Less than high school
Work Experience in a Related Occupation: None
Number of Jobs, 2010: 4,110,400

Waiters and Waitresses

2010 Median Pay: $18,330 per year
Entry-Level Education: Less than high school
Work Experience in a Related Occupation: None
Number of Jobs, 2010: 2,260,300

September 19, 2012
TEXT-S&P: high costs take a bite out of U.S. restaurant cos

"But there are still some concerns because U.S. restaurant companies remain vulnerable to prolonged economic weakness, persistently high unemployment in the U.S., and increasing commodity and labor costs. Furthermore, this summer's severe drought will likely push food costs up making it difficult for restaurants to pass increases on to customers," Ms. Borysiak added.

See Also:
Student Loan Debt Exceeds One Trillion Dollars

9 comments:

AllanF said...

And it's going to get worse before it gets better. Saw the following just today, puts some real numbers to what MoM had been talking about last year:

"Under Obamacare, however, he will have to provide health insurance for all 109 full-time workers, a cost of $444,000, or two and half times more than his current costs. That $315,000 increase is equal to just over half his annual profit, after expenses, or 1.5 percent of sales. As a result, he said, "I'm not paying $444,000."

Providing no insurance would result in a federal fine of $158,000, $29,000 more than he now spends but the lowest cost possible under the Obamacare law. So he now views that as his cap and he'll either cut worker hours or replace them with machines to get his costs down or dump them on the public health exchange and pay the fine. "Every business has a way to eliminate jobs," he said, "but that's not good for them or me."

Stagflationary Mark said...

AllanF,

And if Romney is elected, he'll no doubt figure out yet another way to hasten our trip to the "promised" land.

Behold the new modern economy in all its glory. Sigh.

Troy said...

Our choice from the Dems is clearly agrarian socialism on the Pol Pot model, and from the Republicans is remaking our society to more closely comport with an Ayn Rand novel.

Romney campaign is now slagging Obama for this:

"There has been a systematic, I don’t think it’s too strong to call it a propaganda, campaign against the possibility of government action and its efficacy. And I think some of it has been deserved. Chicago Housing Authority has not been a model of good policymaking. And neither necessarily have been the Chicago public schools. What that means, then, is as we try to resuscitate this notion that we’re all in this thing together, leave nobody behind. We do have to be innovative in thinking how, what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live. And my suggestion, I guess, would be that the trick –- and this is one of the few areas where I think there are technical issues that have to be dealt with, as opposed to just political issues -- the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody’s got a shot."

Pol Pot might even blanche at that extremism!

AllanF said...

Alright, here's my problem. WS and mega-Corporations are raping and pillaging the middle classes and the "political debate," such that it is, is whether the Feds are getting a fair share of the grift. WTF!?! Stop the grifting.

Obama had 4 years and didn't touch WS. I don't know whether Romney would either, but I get the sense he is at least numerate enough to know from whence the grift comes. Obama hasn't a clue, and seems kind of proud of his detached ignorance. Did you see the Letterman interview? Dave says/asks the debt is something around $10T, Obama casually admits he doesn't know the exact number either. These guys are buffoons. HWBush may have miffed the price of milk question, but I think he knew GDP, deficit, and debt during his 4 yrs. I bet the RP's know. Stuff like the Letterman, and IL/CA debts, and Q-infinity makes me think, yeah, this thing is going down like Russia. Eventually there will be a currency crisis and then it's going to be "hey-who-couldda-knowed?" Just like the last two bubbles popping, in fact.

According to Zero Hedge (yeah, yeah, I know) at least Romney shows he knows. I rather doubt Obama does, or even cares. Again, not saying I think Romney is going to address it in a meaningful manner, but at least he knows.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Troy & AllanF,

We've moved from SNAFU to SUSFU to FUBAR. That just leaves us TARFU and BOHICA. Sigh.

List of military slang terms

Troy said...

Obama had 4 years and didn't touch WS

Politics is a tough biz. Had Obama gone after the banks that would just open him up to that kenyan socialist manchurian candidate narrative the right wants to push now.

It's not like "touching" the banks is going to actually accomplish anything. 'Bad banks! You guys are really bad!'

85% of the discussion today is just BS.

Obama casually admits he doesn't know the exact number either. These guys are buffoons.

I think it's more important for smart people to hide their intelligence if they're seeking the votes of people who haven't made up their mind yet.

Stupid is what stupid does, and Obama hasn't really done anything different than I would have given the situation he inherited and the politics of this place.

He was handed a flaming bag of dog poo for an economy and what we have now is about the best that can be expected.

That the S&P is approaching 2007 all time high and gasoline is only 25% above that:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=aSL is rather surprising.

Eventually there will be a currency crisis

The $600B/yr trade deficit is troubling, yes, but it's going to take that currency crisis to solve it I think.

I don't know where this is going but I don't fault "liberal" thinking for how we got here. NAFTA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, AUMF for Iraq, the housing bubble, these were all gifts of the conservative-dominated 1990s and 2000s.

I would solve things by doubling taxes on the job creators that Romney was speaking to in Boca Raton. The top 1% here have less to do with wealth creation in this country than the 47% that Romney slagged on for their entertainment.

I pay 40%+ in taxes, it's not going to break the Romneys of this country to get hit for 25% or whatever.

Medicare cost growth is going to be insane starting right about now, as the population of 65 yos ramps up with the baby boom (peak birth year was 1957, so peak enrollment is going to be 2022).

So we're going to have to raise taxes on the working class, too, doubling their medicare or whatever.

This is not the message the people of this country want to hear, though.

Dunno what's going to happen, don't particularly want to be here when it does, either.

I still think Japan is better set up than us this decade and next, which is hard to understand let alone explain.

If our 80MB baby boom consumes domestic goods in their retirements, we'll be kinda OK given the increased velocity of the stimulative redistribution. If they all buy 8MPG RVs and start cruising the nation . . . man.

Scott said...

"Most restaurateurs know there are simply not enough qualified applicants for the positions they need to fill."

What utter horse manure!!

The fake labor shortage meme rears its ugly head again.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Troy,

This is not the message the people of this country want to hear, though.

That's an understatement. What people want to hear is that our problems are cyclical and there is an easy solution that doesn't cause any pain. Good luck on that one!

Stagflationary Mark said...

Scott,

I could believe that head chefs could be in short supply.

Here's an easy solution. Pay them more and more people would train to do it.

I know. Crazy talk.

In sharp contrast, I think this is what most restaurateurs think.

Holy crap! There are *so* many restaurants near me! How am I supposed to compete with that if the economy tanks again?