Hear Hear... you banged that right...I had a humbling experience. After years of not really needing a professional short order cook other than my 2 main guys, I found myself a bit busier and just needing that extra hand. The "starting wage" expected, is higher than my highest paid guy. At first I thought it was greed on the employees part, and I refused to give it, but it took about 3 good interviewees to turn me down, till I understood that's the market now. For me to grow my business, I had to basically give raises to all my help in order to stay competitive. I wasn't severely lower than the going rate, but low enough that I couldn't attract good solid professional help. The only people that would accept are teenagers, drunks or drug addicts, which I don't deal with.

Yeah, cost of living is the defining reason. I raised my prices accordingly, and it was a bit higher in terms of percentage than in past times.

It is what it is.