Fast-Food Workers Are Now In High Demand

It may seem hard to believe at first, but fast-food workers with years of experience are in high demand.

According to a Bloomberg report, the restaurant sector is engaged in a "full-on food fight" over workers. In fact, the scarcity of qualified workers is resulting in candidates being paid above the minimum wage — without the help of government lawmakers.

For example, Eddie Rodriguez, who oversees 177 Wendys Co WEN locations across three states, boosted the hourly pay by nearly one dollar to an average of $9.05, according to Bloomberg. In addition, employees are offered flexible schedules and a referral bonus of $250 to employees who found prospects.

Even with the perks, Rodriguez can't keep up with demand during peak traffic at restaurants.

Lower Unemployment, Higher Turnovers = Higher Demand

The report further noted that while the unemployment rate in the United States sits near a nine-year low at 4.7 percent, the annual turnover for restaurant workers in September soared to 113 percent, marking the highest level ever since People Report began tracking the data in 1995.

This makes sense when considering that demand for low-skill workers isn't unique to restaurants. Restaurants need to remain competitive with retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT, which raised the wages of more than one million employees to at least $10 an hour.

"It's a hot job market," Michael Harms, the executive director of operations at Dallas-based TDn2K, People Report's parent told Bloomberg. "Every employee, whether they're 17 years old or 40 years old, has options."