I think this framing is off. I think it's this notion that the company is offering compensation as a blend of base rate and tips. Like it's compensation in a blend of cash and stocks. But that seems wrong. The company isn't compensating with tips.
The claim that drivers are looking for more of their pay to come from tips seems false. Tips and pay are independent, and saying that drivers want to be paid less by the company seems false on its face.
A more accurate framing seems to be that the companies are using the presence of tips to lower the wage for the position to save money.
The issue is that variable base rates are directly using customer tips to fund wage obligations. If the company indicates they are giving 100% of a tip to the worker, but then offsets the pay by exactly that amount, they aren't actually giving that tip to the worker like they claimed.
So a fixed base rate plus protection against downside risk like you proposed is not the same as the variable base rate these companies are implementing.
As someone who gets dragged on work outings I vastly prefer escape rooms to most other options. They are a good mix of interaction and activity, don't require me to put up with drink people, and can occasionally be fun.
The real challenge with the industry, unlike a lot of others, is the lack of replayability. This makes the industry rather unique and requires more operators to fill a given level of demand in a metro region than other similar options.
But god I hope the industry keeps growing or it'll be back to wine tasting or skeet shooting or all day resort retreats. Ugh.
I've seen the same behavior with my kids. Sometimes the reason is clear and correct and sometimes it's clearly not.
One strategy I've found that can sometimes work is to engage with them in problem solving. Asking them what they think would help or if you have a guess, an action that corresponds with that guess. I've found its usually a more reliable source of information.
The internet is a boon for these things too. I know the author didn't have Google 23 years ago, but now there are a lot more resources to get on the right track with many strange kid behaviors, so it's like parenting in easy mode now.
The claim that drivers are looking for more of their pay to come from tips seems false. Tips and pay are independent, and saying that drivers want to be paid less by the company seems false on its face.
A more accurate framing seems to be that the companies are using the presence of tips to lower the wage for the position to save money.
The issue is that variable base rates are directly using customer tips to fund wage obligations. If the company indicates they are giving 100% of a tip to the worker, but then offsets the pay by exactly that amount, they aren't actually giving that tip to the worker like they claimed.
So a fixed base rate plus protection against downside risk like you proposed is not the same as the variable base rate these companies are implementing.