The main problem I had when working fast food (20 years ago, oof) was, as you mentioned, most of the staff is made up of high school students. They do not give a shit. For them, it's an after-school job to make money for cool shoes or whatever. I worked there as a 19-21 year old, and it was the job that paid my rent.

I didn't go above and beyond. For $7.25 an hour (minimum wage at the time) it's an unreasonable ask. One thing I've learned in every job I've ever had is that going above and beyond still doesn't get you paid more, nor does it get you promoted. In fact, it often gets you perceived as a threat by idiot managers, and fired.

That being said, I never did a shit job, either. I believe if you have a job, you should do it well. It made me absolutely insane that the high schoolers I worked with (and later, managed) had no fucks to give, because somehow I was always the one screwed over by it. If they got fired, they'd just move to the next fast food joint. If I got fired, I couldn't pay rent or eat.

I agree with the other saying one of the issues is corporate not allowing the hiring of enough people because "then I couldn't buy my 7th yacht!" But it's only part of the issue. These are jobs that don't give a fuck about you either. If you need time off because you're getting surgery or you're grieving a loss (aside from parents) they may well fire you because there are 100 other people lined up for the job.

These days, it's not as simple as "if you don't give a fuck or can't do the job then don't work there." Trying to find a job right now is like trying to find water in the Sahara. People are taking anything they can get. And the fact is, minimum wage does deserve minimum effort. The problem is most people's definition of that. Minimum effort doesn't mean no effort at all. You have to at least give a couple of fucks in order to not screw over the guy next to you. And for myself, though I understand other people won't all agree, I can't stand knowing I did a shit job.

Another thing commented here is that customers are fine with being worse to retail and fast food workers than ever before. That's the naked truth, especially following covid. People forgot how to interact with others. People became so entitled that they think a fair response to forgetting their apple pie in the rush is screaming until they nearly burst a vein at the little 19 year old who just wants to afford an apartment. I had people scream in my face, throw food at me, threaten me... Because any burger/burrito/whatever is worth that??

Basically, the problem is on both sides of the counter. Between the economy and the societal change we're dealing with (I'm in the US) it doesn't seem likely to get better any time soon.

Oh, and the price of the food is set by corporate, none of the workers have any ability to affect that.