Why Pizza Hut Is Laying Off More Than 1,200 Delivery Drivers in 2024

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Things are about to look a whole lot different at various Pizza Hut locations on the West Coast.

The popular pizza restaurant is reportedly planning to lay off more than 1,200 delivery drivers in several California counties following a new law set to raise the state's fast-food minimum wage.

As reported by the Long Beach Post, the layoffs will affect Pizza Hut employees in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. A second Pizza Hut franchise with locations in Sacramento, Palm Springs, Central California, Southern Oregon, and the Reno-Tahoe area is also expected to lay off 841 drivers.

The decision comes amid plans for Pizza Hut to eliminate their delivery service, which some believe to be the result of a new state law raising the fast-food minimum wage by $4, bringing it to $20 per hour.

Introduced by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom back in September, the new law, known as Assembly Bill 1228, is slated to go into effect in April 2024.

In compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to give notice of mass layoffs, Pac Pizza, LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, has already filed a WARN Act notice with the state's Employment Department, insisting that it will be going forward with the decision to ditch first-party delivery services.

The layoffs are reportedly planned to take place through the end of February 2024, as Pizza Hut franchises prepare to switch to using third-party delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats for delivery orders instead.

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