[kjam22]

No problem. You know... it was about 35 years ago for me. But we had 20 or so different hamburgers. We knew how much it cost us ingredients wise to make each one based on what was on it. Chili, old fashioned, double meat...you know.... all the stuff. So you control that cost through training of your employees not to waste, portions etc. And you buy in bulk etc to get the best pricing.

Labor cost comes down to scheduling and what you pay them. If you raise McDonalds minimum wage... they'll have to schedule less people or raise cost of their product the proper amount to keep an acceptable labor cost percentage. Probably a mix of both. And/Or... the owner of these franchises accepts a smaller net income percent.

In this day and age I would not want to own a McDonalds... for one thing my spanish isn't good enough.

[wbill]

Kjam.....question for someone who knows a whole lot more than I on this....

To me, it appears that many, if not most, of the FF workers' jobs could be automated. I'm thinking - specifically - anything customer-facing, or counter-related. What do you think?

I say this because $15/hr is what I'd expect a front-line, entry-level automation service tech to make. A good handful of minimum wage counter staff could be replaced with automation (touchscreens, CC swipes, etc) and a single tech to make sure that it stays working. Libs should be careful with what they wish for.