Teens Make $50,000 At Texas Fast Food Chain Amid Tight Labor Market

When the owner of a Texas chicken chain started losing his employees to Walmart and McDonald's, he realized he had to make changes and quick.

So Garrett Reed, the CEO of Layne's Chicken Fingers, gave his employees pay raises and promotions to keep them from leaving. Now, 16- and 17-year-olds Reed employs have the opportunity to make $50,000 a year at Layne's Chicken Fingers.

The salaries are much higher what a teen makes at an average fast food job, but Reed said he's investing in some of his youngest employees to grow his business.

"We're so thin at leadership that we can't stretch anymore to open more locations," he told the Wall Street Journal. "I've got a good crop of 16- and 17-year-olds, but I need another year or two to get them seasoned to run stores."

Layne's Chicken Fingers has six locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and around College Station. Reed told D Magazine that he wanted to open more than 100 locations across Texas by 2028.

He had to pause his plans for expansion because, like many in the restaurant business, he had trouble hiring and retaining staff members.

"The biggest challenge for small companies to grow right now is your labor force," Reed said. "We'd be growing at twice the rate if we had more people."

There isn't a shortage of people willing to work, but people are passing up minimum wage and other low paying jobs for better opportunities, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The better pay and chance at a management position is helping Reed find new employees, but he said there's a limit to how much he can pay.

"There's only so much I can pay and remain profitable without raising prices too much," Reed told the Journal.