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Closed 'due to NO STAFF': Hardee's sign sets off Twitter storm

Photo from post on Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.) Twitter account.

May 4, 2021

A Twitter post around a fast food restaurant that closed because it could not find workers has both gone viral and managed to encapsulate the arguments around whether the federal minimum wage should or should not be raised.

It all erupted Monday following the posting of a sign outside a North Carolina Hardee's restaurant that said the restaurant had closed due to the lack of available workers. The sign's photo was posted by Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.), whose accompanying comment about why the restaurant lacked workers set off a firestorm of comments on the social media channel.

This is what happens when you extend unemployment benefits for too long and add a $1400 stimulus payment to it. Right when employers need workers to fully open back up, few can be found. pic.twitter.com/DlrQp8Vzw1

— David Rouzer (@RepDavidRouzer) April 30, 2021

That set off the powder keg, particularly among restaurant workers who said the real reason workers could not be found is that wages were insufficient and working conditions were sub-par.

Nope. You analysis is flawed. Would you work for 3.89/hour, no benefits, during a global pandemic, interacting all day w maskless people who don't believe in covid?

— red light hive (@redlighthive) April 30, 2021

Others responded with information claiming that even the stimulus checks many have received as a result of the latest government pandemic-era benefits programs fall far short of meeting everyday needs of life in the U.S. Still others said the inability of many restaurants to hire enough workers is an example of the free market at work.

"This is the free market working, dumbass. If you don't pay people enough they're not gonna take the shitty job," @BriannaWu wrote. "Sounds like you need to study economics."

Reached this afternoon, a Hardee's spokeswoman confirmed the location where the picture was taken is operated by a franchisee, but further details were unavailable at the time of this writing.