Applebee's: email urging lower wages for new employees due to higher gas prices sparks walk out

[Nevilledog]

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Chad Lawhorn
@clawhorn_ljw
Lawrence's Applebee's was closed for awhile on Tuesday after several employees quit in anger over an email from a regional executive urging lower wages for new employees due to higher gasoline prices.

ljworld.com
An email urging lower wages for new employees due to higher gas prices sparks walkout at Lawrence...
Rising gasoline prices are causing all types of problems for businesses, but Lawrence’s lone Applebee’s restaurant faced a new one this week. The restaurant on south Iowa Street was closed for large...
3:55 PM · Mar 23, 2022

https://www2.ljworld.com/news/general-news/2022/mar/23/an-email-urging-lower-wages-for-new-employees-due-to-higher-gas-prices-sparks-walkout-at-lawrence-applebees/


Rising gasoline prices are causing all types of problems for businesses, but Lawrence’s lone Applebee’s restaurant faced a new one this week.

The restaurant on south Iowa Street was closed for large parts of Tuesday because of high gasoline prices, but perhaps not for the reasons you would think. Multiple employees of the chain quit after seeing an email from a regional manager urging the restaurant to begin hiring employees at lower wages, under the theory that people are becoming more desperate to take a job as fuel prices increase.

“Everyone has heard that gas prices continue to rise,” read an email that came from the account of Wayne Pankratz, executive director of operations for Applebee’s franchisee Apple Central LLC. “The advantage this has for us is that it will increase application flow and has the potential to lower our average wage. How you ask?

“Most of our employee base and potential employee base live paycheck to paycheck. Any increase in gas price cuts into their disposable income. As inflation continues to climb and gas prices continue to go up, that means more hours employees will need to work to maintain their current level of living.”

When Jake Holcomb, one of several managers at the Lawrence restaurant, ended up seeing the email on Monday, it upset him enough that he made copies of the email and distributed them to several employees of the restaurant.

*snip*

[onecaliberal]

1. How the hell does that even make sense? People have less money so pay them less money?

[LonePirate]

5. He thinks the supply of workers is increasing thus reducing upward wage pressure.

More workers competing for fewer jobs so employers can be pickier by paying smaller wages.

[Mariana]

10. They have this fantasy that there's this vast pool of potential workers

sitting at home refusing to work, and expect them to come crawling back and beg for those shitty, low-wage jobs any day now. In reality, millions of people have left the workforce, some long-term and some forever.

[Aristus]

7. The corporate mentality is just the plantation mentality with Armani suits and without the funny

hats.

Pay them just enough so that technically, it's not slavery. Then watch the profits roll in.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Nobody At Applebee's Corporate...

...is wearing Armani! Nobody there is that cool!

[Wounded Bear]

21. Because "floggings will continue until morale improves"...

that's the typical corporate philosophy/attitude.

[jcgoldie]

2. jesus christ what an asshole

"Inflation makes workers more desperate for money therefore we can fuck them more and they have to just take it." Fuck you Applebees.

[smirkymonkey]

20. Seriously, Fuck this guy!

How do people like that live with themselves? What on earth is WRONG with them?

Sometimes I just want off this planet!

[Phoenix61]

3. And people wonder why no one wants to work for a restaurant.

[orwell]

4. Some businesses still think...

...that depressing employee wages at all costs is in their long term best interests.

At first glance, this seems intuitively correct. Wages and benefits are a major cost of doing business, especially in a service industry. But on closer examination, this is often the wrong strategy.

Low wages results in high turnover. What are the costs of retraining employees constantly, both in time and lost productivity?

Low wages result in high sick days. Once again, how productive is an employee if they are not at the business?

Low wages results in low employee morale.

Low wages results in higher theft rates. If you are paying bottom tier wages, you have set up an adversarial relationship with the employee. Why wouldn't they "get even" by taking things like office supplies, free lunches, or even more bathroom breaks that aren't needed. And what about constantly staring at Facebook when they could be working. After all, you are taking advantage of them and they know it.

Low wages results in high external costs to the community. Low wages means the employee can not afford health care unless the business provides it. Many businesses with bottom of the barrel wage structures do not offer healthcare, unless they are forced to by the government. If they do offer a health plan it is as low grade as the wages they provide.

It is time businesses start understanding that it is in their own best interest to pay a living wage. How can people afford your goods and services if they don't have the money to pay for them? Higher wages increases the multiplier effects in the economy as those wages come back to the local businesses in the form of higher sales to employees that have money to spend. In essence, everyone benefits from businesses voluntarily paying a living wage to all their employees.

The proof - when the world's governments created money out of thin air recently to combat devastating economic contraction due to coronavirus lockdowns, sales took off. In fact the increase in aggregate demand combined with the contraction in aggregate supply is what led to worldwide inflationary pressures. In other words, this was proven in real time in the real world across multiple economies and cultures.

To do anything less is extremely short sighted and economically naïve.

To paraphrase someone who taught me about trading the stock market 4 decades ago..."What is universally known, is often universally wrong."

In this case, business almost universally believes that paying the least amount possible for labor is universally in their best interests. This has now been proven to be universally wrong.

[haele]

24. Spouse used to manage a Domino's in a small town.

He would hire local off-duty firemen for part-time drivers, analyzed from previous sales when the rushes were, hired enough people to work without working overtime based on that analysis, and always made sure that they didn't skimp on the toppings.
He also did a lot of advertising tricks, providing free pizza slices at the little league games, had his drivers just cruise around town with the Domino's toppers on their cars around 4pm, and had lunch specials.
He let his assistant and drivers open the store on holidays or early weekends if they wanted to work. They made their most profits that year on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, when the store was technically "officially" closed.

He increased sales from $2k a week to $8k a week within six months. Sure, the cost margin was higher on labor and "food", but the difference between 42% cost on $2k and 50% cost on $8k was still a significant net profit for the franchise owners. But, they didn't see it that way and fired him after a year.
And the store failed within three years.

Get enough people to do the job, treat and pay them well enough to want to come work, and it increases the chance to make profit.

Haele

[orwell]

25. This is another real world example...

...of what I am saying.

Domino's lost a creative manager who was effectively increasing profits, company goodwill, and the financial well being of the community that Domino's served.

But the company adhered to short sighted well worn business school clichés and everyone lost.

[mopinko]

6. that doesnt even make sense.

esp if you're talking about tipped employees. but even hourly ppl arent making jack shit.

not a very good businessman if he doesnt see the big picture. he should be thinking about how much harder it's going to be to get workers, and how squeezed his customers are going to be.

[xocetaceans]

9. You have to love how Applebee's values their employees. "Let's pay them as little as possible now...

...that they're desperate." is that very fine capitalist's sentiment, I believe.

(sarcasm)

[Maeve]

11. That is vile. It is also so very common in business "thinking"

Capitalism will kill itself if these folks don't re-discover enlightened self-interest.

[budkin]

12. Applebee's is a horrible company with mediocre food

I never understood how they got so huge.

[Volaris]

13. They used to actually be OK imo..

Had some of the best chain steak and quesodias in the biz, and then corporate seems to have decided to do a nationwide 'remodel'...gone was the soft pine green and friendly light-wood bartop, in exchange for Flair Everywhere and stainless steel.
Changed the menu, and it's sucked since.

As an aside, if there's so much as ONE ponderosa steakhouse left in America, tell me and I promise they'll get my Tourist Dollars lol!

[budkin]

14. Ponderosa was one of my favorite places as a kid

Loved the salad bar!

[Chellee]

16. Ponderosa/Bonanza

https://pon-bon.com/locations?

The answer is yes, they still exist, but I hope you like dining in the Midwest.

[Volaris]

17. Well, I'm actually in st louis, and have to go to Greenville next week anyway,

So that Vandalia loc might actually be on the itenary for next Wed haha!!

Many thanks !!!

[sarcasmo]

15. Crapplebees

[themaguffin]

18. Lower than $2.13/hour?

[ck4829]

19. Kick

[Wounded Bear]

22. Floggings will continue until morale improves...

[Emile]

23. The last time I went to Applebee's no one knew my name! Screw em

Therefore I refuse to go there anymore!

[Vinca]

26. Isn't that kind of back asswards? How does he expect his employees to get to work if they don't

make enough money to put gas in their cars?