Flipping burgers and asking “Do you want fries with that?” never have been particularly desirable ways to pay the bills.

But with rock-bottom unemployment pushing up wages in other entry-level jobs, some fast-food restaurants have been scrambling to keep enough competent workers.

“Most people are fired or just plain quit because they don’t like it, or they don’t show up for work,” said Andy Leuschen, manager at Burger King, 2418 Lincoln Way.

He said too many Iowa State students enjoy “lives of luxury” funded by handouts from home and, as a result, don’t need to sweat over a hot grill to get money.

Most fast-food places in the Ames area offer starting wages between $6 and $7 an hour, according to managers at those restaurants.

“I have a full-time job, and I’m a full-time student, and I get by,” Leuschen said.

The lack of workers with work ethic is exacerbated by a simple lack of workers. February unemployment in Story County was 2.3 percent, the lowest figure since 1989, said Sha Khan, labor market analyst for the Iowa Workforce Development Center.

In response to current conditions, other employers such as manufacturers and convenience stores are raising their wages. And, Khan said, when job-seekers can get the same salary for clerking as they can for cooking french fries, the choice is easy.

Dale Denekas, lead worker at the Iowa Workforce Development Center in Ames, agreed.

“Over the years, things have changed,” he said when asked about the attitudes of high school and college students.

“They’re not as apt to look for [fast-food] jobs as they used to be,” he said. “But in the long run, it’ll probably improve because restaurants have increased their wages.”

Leuschen and several other restaurant managers said they are increasingly frustrated by new hires who quit after less than a month on the job.

“It’s mostly hard to get people to stay,” said Eric Nedved, assistant manager at Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, 3334 Lincoln Way.

The situation is so dire at Wendy’s, he said, managers and owners have been forced to fill the gaps in the burger assembly line, and at one point, employees were even inserting blank applications into each take-out bag.

Recently, Nedved said, Wendy’s has begun offering $7 an hour — up from its normal starting wage of $6 — to employees willing to work between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the restaurant has the fewest available workers.

A technique almost every fast-food joint uses is the “recruiter’s bonus.” For example, a Wendy’s employee who convinces a friend to work at Wendy’s will get a reward of up to $100 if the friend stays for two months, Nedved said.

At Burger King, the bonus is $25 after the first three months, with another $25 if the new employee sticks around for three more months, Leuschen said.

Jerome Williams, manager at Taco Bell, 2650 Lincoln Way, said his restaurant improves its worker retention rate by promoting a friendly atmosphere behind the counter.

Encouraged by management, some Taco Bell employees gather weekly to watch “Wrestlemania,” a pro-wrestling television show, and others compete in video-game football playoffs.

“We like to do things together,” he said. “We keep employees because we do things like that.”

Still, Williams said, the lure of high wages elsewhere is a constant distraction for his staff of burrito-makers.

“I’m having trouble keeping employees,” he said. “College students are looking for something better than a minimum-wage job.”