A career that involves asking whether or not you’d like fries with that is not necessarily at the top of anyone’s, “What I want to be when I grow up…” list. However, for those who do harbor dreams of working in fast food, it’s certainly not behind the counter; it’s behind the desk in the corner office in corporate offices.
Fast Food at the Average Joe
Most people have nothing more to do with fast food than ordering it or taking payment at the window. For the latter, it’s a job that requires working full time for a paltry $19,000 per year. For the former, it’s a splurge that cuts into your wallet and into your waistline. For people like David Novak, however, fast food provided him with an unbelievable $22 million last year alone. He’s the CEO of YUM! Brands, the owner of fast food restaurants such as KFC and Taco Bell. Do the math and it turns out that fast food CEOs make 1,000 times that of the average fast food employee.
It’s not uncommon in any industry for those lowest on the totem pole to receive a paycheck a tiny fraction of that of the company’s CEOs. However, the disparity between the average working man and the CEO is most apparent in the fast food industry, according to a research report titled, “Fast Food Failure: How the CEO-to-Worker Pay Disparity Undermines the Industry and the Overall Economy,”. Part of the reason for this is the fact that CEO income has grown rapidly in the fast food industry as it has in every other industry in the country. However, the average pay of a fast food worker has risen only .03 percent since 2000. The pay ratio between the two is an astonishing 54 percent higher than the disparity in other food service and accommodation industries.
Fast Food Income Disparity
One of the primary reasons for the surge in fast food CEO salary is stock options that typically far outweigh the actually salary of a fast food CEO. Additionally, most fast food employees are not full-time employees, which could indicate that the average income of a fast food employee is an overestimate.
The highest paid CEO in fast food is the CEO for Starbucks, Howard Shultz, whose salary and stocks have averaged payouts of approximately $36 million. For Chipotle, the payout is $18 million and McDonald’s is $11 million. Fast food workers, however, make just over minimum wage, which is something the fast food industry has faced prominently since President Obama’s proposal to raise minimum wage to $10.10 per hour to meet the cost of living standards in the country. However, Republicans and the restaurant industry oppose this proposal.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
