As the president pushes his plan to get America back track, there is a major issue looming that could spell disaster for many in the restaurant industry. But the real story is why is it happening at all?
America is running low on chicken, according to Bloomberg, and we could be gearing up for a summer without bbq chicken and hot wings. The news is devastating to thousands of backyard grill masters, but restaurants and jobs that rely on chicken could be hit hard.
Sure it is easy to blame COVID-19 for the mess, but that may just be the easy answer. With the government giving out so much money and offering unemployment, many companies that depend on low wage employees are having a hard time keeping up with the demand.
The CEO of Wingstop said, “Suppliers are struggling, just as many in our industry are, to hire people to process chicken, thus placing unexpected pressure on the amount of birds that can be processed and negatively affecting supply of all parts of the chicken in the U.S., not just wings.”
Sadly, we are seeing this in a lot of areas.
Fast food restaurants have longer than normal drive through lines, and one of the reasons is that many of the restaurants are having a hard time hiring people. Taco Bell and McDonalds have expressed concern about the labor shortage and McDonalds even said some stores may not open dining rooms.
The CEO of FAT Brands, Andy Weiderhorn said, “The most recent stimulus check and unemployment benefits have been a catalyst for people to stay at home”
It is clear that handing out money is not having all of the desired effects. Meanwhile there are some cities in America considering or starting programs for universal basic income. If we see similar results, it is likely fast food chains might not even exist at all in the cities that run with basic income.
