Minimum Wage Hikes Destroy Even More Jobs as Red Robin Forced to Lay Off Hundreds

Restaurant chain Red Robin has found itself losing money thanks to the west coast’s love affair with hiking the minimum wage. As a result, the chain says they’ll be eliminating the jobs of busboys across 500 plus locations, essentially killing the jobs leftist set out to make better.

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According to the New York Post, Red Robin is looking to save $8 million by axing the jobs of busboys from each of its 570 restaurants. This comes on the heels of Red Robin eliminating its food expediters, which saved them $10 million in 2017.

“We need to do that to address the labor increases we’ve seen,” Red Robin’s chief financial officer Guy Constant told attendees at the ICR retail conference, according to New York Post.

While eliminating the jobs of the busboys, existing staff will have to pick up the slack. According to restaurant consultant John Gordan, this is going to put a damper on customer service.

The sudden death in jobs should surprise no one. In December, a study was released by the Employment Policies Institute that showed wage hikes in California to the desired $15 an hour would cost the state 400,000 jobs by 2022 due to businesses compensating by laying off employees. Sadly, Red Robin busboys and expediters were the first on the list.

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It’s not clear how many jobs have been lost yet, but if the 2022 prediction holds true, then much of the west coast may find itself in the midst of an unemployment crisis. It’s already facing one of the largest drop-offs of taxpayers as they flee the burdensome blue state for greener pastures of red states by the thousands.

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