How the $20 mandatory minimum wage is working out.

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Business Insider: 5 ways fast-food restaurants in California are cutting costs to cover the new minimum wage.

1. Laying off workers
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2. Cutting hours and hiring less
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3. Dropping staff benefits
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4. Turning to order kiosks

Restaurants are turning to technology and automation to help reduce labor costs.

Sharon Zackfia, a restaurant analyst at William Blair, previously told BI that she expects digital order kiosks — currently a key focus area for some fast-food chains — to spread "even more quickly" in California. Kiosks mean that diners can place orders without having to speak to staff at a counter.

[Michaela] Mendelsohn, the El Pollo Loco franchisee, told CNN that she was introducing order kiosks and was considering bringing in AI-operated drive-thrus.
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5. Spending less on operations
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Alex Johnson, the Auntie Anne's Pretzels and Cinnabon franchisee, told the AP that he wasn't looking at opening any more locations in California. "I have to consider selling and even closing my business," he said. "The profit margin has become too slim."

Why, who could have possibly ever considered there are other ways to circumvent big nanny state government oppressive and onerous over-regulation?