GREENFIELD, Ind. (WISH ) — A shortage of low-wage workers is forcing fast-food restaurant managers to close early, assign double shifts and raise starting pay.

Some franchises in Greenfield have been too short-staffed to open, customers said.

“It’s been hectic,” said Thomas McWilliams, a cook at Hardee’s on State Street. “It’s been really stressful.”

He was nearly as exhausted as his wife, general manager Crystal McWilliams, he added.

The couple estimated she had been working 70- to 80-hour weeks to fill gaps created by former employees who quit. As a salaried employee, Crystal receives no overtime pay.

“We’ve gone through probably more employees in the last six months than we’ve gone through in the first year we were here,” Thomas told News 8. “This is the worst it’s been.”

Employees are quitting “left and right” for less demanding, better-paying jobs in other industries, he said.

Low unemployment rates and changing priorities of younger job seekers are responsible for worker shortages across the fast-food industry, according to economists.

The lowest paying jobs are most likely to be affected when job opportunities increase and the number of available workers decreases, experts said.

Crystal resorted to raising starting pay by $1.50. She saw little impact on hiring after a few weeks but remained hopeful it would help her attract and retain employees, she said.

“We’re still not competing,” said Thomas. “She’s still not up there with the $10 or $11 an hour that Walmart right behind us is offering.”

In July, Hardee’s closed its dining area early one night after a manager and cook quit the same day. The pair had accepted better-paying factory jobs, leaving the restaurant with only enough staff to keep the drive-thru open, Crystal said. 

It was the first time in her five years at Hardee’s she had been forced to close early due to staffing, she told News 8.

She and her husband urged “millennials bouncing from job to job” to consider long-term growth potential when carving out career paths. 

“Five years. This is her store. How many people can go out there and in five years have their own business?” Thomas asked.