Starting wage at new Osoyoos KFC jumps to $22 after ‘feedback’ from community

The owners of a new KFC restaurant coming to Osoyoos have been receiving far more resumes since fattening up the hourly rate for new hires.

Their first online job posting advertised $18 per hour, which is $2.35 above B.C.’s minimum wage of $15.65 per hour.

One commenter sarcastically asked if KFC had fallen on hard times because of how low the wages are, and argued that the cost of labour should keep pace with inflation – which has been particularly high this year.

“Thank you all for your feedback,” read a follow-up post from store manager Luke Nehring.

“We have determined that the starting wage at KFC in Osoyoos will be $22 per hour. If you know anyone who might be interested please let them know," Nehring said.

In an online exchange, Nehring said the KFC will be a family-run business, and the decision to adjust the starting offer was made during a family discussion. 

"We set the starting wage at $22 per hour because it’s the right thing to do," he said.

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Nehring indicated that a large volume of resumes have been submitted since announcing the higher starting wage.

He also mentioned that the KFC was constructed by Deer Valley Holdings, a local Osoyoos company. The target opening date is the week of Aug. 15. Next week will be dedicate to training, and there will be around 15 positions total. 

Anybody worried about higher wages cutting into the bottom line can take comfort in the fact that Yum! Brands – KFC's parent company – reported a net profit of $1.575 billion in 2021. 

"We maximized the structural advantages of our diversified global portfolio by leveraging our unmatched global scale, sophisticated supply chains, marketing and consumer insights expertise, and our growing digital and technology capabilities to fuel growth and deliver strong results," CEO David Gibbs said in a year-end letter to shareholders. 

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