According to an ASORE survey.
They called on the Governor and the Legislature not to allow higher costs of doing business in Puerto Rico.
Photo: file / EFE
Restaurant owners chose to increase prices on their menus to correct the increase in the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour that was implemented in January 2022.
As a study of the macroeconomic status of restaurants on the island, conducted by the Puerto Rican Restaurant Association (ASORE), revealed, almost two years after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, the economy on the island has not returned to what it was before. levels, so restaurants have taken certain measures.
The primary measure taken by the food establishment owners surveyed to address the consequences of the pandemic and the rising minimum wage was to increase the prices of their products, in this case meals.
Along these lines, 94% of those surveyed by ASORE answered that they raised prices, which is the most common procedure for working on the situations described above. The second step most business owners chose was to reduce the number of working hours for their employees.
In particular, 39.2% gave way to a reduction in working hours.
Only 9.8% of those surveyed said they were able to absorb the increase in the minimum wage.
In the midst of this scenario, the ASORE has recommended the governor, Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, and to the legislature, with a majority of the People’s Democratic Party (PPD), to “strengthen measures that support the sector’s recovery”. In addition, they demanded a halt to “measures or legislation that increase the costs of doing business.”
The survey was conducted between December 29, 2021 and January 19, 2022 to 112 respondents representing 1,273 establishments.
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