When a customer tweeted a sign hanging in an Alaska IHOP that blamed President Joe Biden for the worker shortage the internet reacted in fury.
A Twitter user, @ThatOtherDude12, tagged IHOP in a tweet that said:
"Hey, iHop my family and I genuinely enjoy going to your restaurants."
"But if this is corporate policy, I guess we won't be visiting anymore."
"I know we're just one small family, and we don't matter, but we can't eat at a place that condones this."
The tweet has since been deleted, but the sign said:
"Due to the fact that Biden gave out way too much free money and nobody wants to work anymore."
"We are forced to reduce our hours during this week."
@ThatOtherDude12/Twitter
The tweet comes on the heels of the Biden Administration announcing 235,000 jobs had been added by employers in November. Biden also addressed a 10% increase in wages for transportation and warehouse workers and a tax cut for families raising children.
Biden said:
"We’re the only leading economy in the world where household income and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic."
The unemployment rate has lowered from 4.6 to 4.2 percent between October and November, but even with the addition of jobs, the Omicron variant has left employers afraid to increase job availability.
In a complex and delicate economy during the pandemic—and with rises in COVID cases with the variants—people are not happy about IHOP blaming Biden for a lack of workers.
People are even calling for a boycott of IHOP.
According to Statista, IHOP has in fact made 2.25 billion dollars during 2020.
A corporate representative of the breakfast chain said the sign came from a restaurant in Wasilla, Alaska—where Sarah Palin was once mayor. IHOP said the sign was “immediately removed after we were made aware” of it.
They stated:
“This was an unauthorized act of one individual and does not represent the viewpoints of IHOP or the local Franchisee."
This isn't the first time local restaurant management has put up a sign that goes against company viewpoints. One Taco Loco posted a similar sign about the government making them short staffed.
Recently, a California juice bar looked to hire new employees that "don't cry" according to a bizarre sign posted in their window.
With the Great Resignation continuing, service industries continue to be hit the hardest.
Bad attitudes and low wages probably aren't the best way to counteract that.
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