The nightmare of mass layoffs in the United States haunts thousands of workers in all sectors, especially large media or technology companies. Worse, back to the daunting task of finding work, those forced to leave their corporate positions find themselves with discouraging wages, even if they apply for similar positions.
Many, especially the younger ones, have found a temporary solution Return to the service industry or venture into a trade that does not require prior training or an academic degreeAs a waiter, ‘bartender’ or restaurant staff.
Sean Lens, a young man with over 4 million “likes” on TikTok, experienced this 180-degree turn firsthand in his disruptive career as a data analyst.
“A job is a job and I’ll do anything for money, I always have,” Sean says in a video with more than 80,000 views, where he explains how he’s been treated with condescension by potential employers in hospitality and services. is
Usually, he explains, he’s asked why he wants to work in a restaurant if his credentials are “so good.” “It’s not that I want it, it’s that I need it“He responds every time.
Sean admits that these types of employers embarrass him “for no reason”. “Obviously, my current situation is not ideal, it’s not for me, it’s not what I wanted, but I’m trying to do the best I can (…) The last thing I need is people asking questions about the path I’m choosing.“, he heard in a video that did not take long to gather thousands of reactions.
“I am a bartender and I earn my rent in 5 hours”
But the more interesting discussion was seen in the comment box of the video. Indeed, many TikTok users identified with Sean’s words, either because they were recently laid off or because they claim that, compared to their former corporate positions, they now earn significantly more as waiters or bartenders.
“People shame me for being a bartender, but I make my rent in 5 hours and work 3 days a week”; Hannah Lace wrote. Khadija from New York added, “I made more in 4 days as a waitress than I did in a week at my salaried job.”
Many in the comments claimed that the service industry is the easiest and best paying route for those looking to return to the corporate world.
“My bartending friends earn more than my corporate friends”; “I left university to work in the service industry and I don’t regret it at all”; “Same thing, they shamed me for being a bartender because I have a degree, but it pays my rent!”; It is read at the bottom of the video.
“I was laid off from my corporate job 8 months ago and have been waitressing ever since. Going back would be very hard because now I earn more than I do and I only work between 25 and 30 hours a week,” another user added.
More than 80,000 layoffs in January 2024 alone
New data from the United States government showed a “surprisingly strong” labor market, but still with signs of weakness, based on thousands of workers laid off since the start of 2024, CNBC suggested earlier last month. Employers announced 82,307 job cuts in the first month of the year, a 136% increase over December’s layoffs.
In 2024 alone, the tech sector laid off about 42,324 people, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks layoffs in the tech industry. That represents an average of more than 780 layoffs per day, slightly more than the 720 layoffs reported in all of 2023, when nearly 263,000 technology workers were laid off.
No job in the service industry has the same potential as a corporate job if you want to reach six figures. But for more and more young people it is a perfectly worthy and relatively profitable temporary option. According to data from employment platform Glassdoor, The salary range for those working in restaurants is US$42,000 to US$69,000 per year.
Glassdoor, which creates its ranks using a proprietary gross salary estimation model based on salaries posted by its users, says service staff also earn an estimated additional bonus of $14,491 per year, which can come from commissions, tips and profit sharing.
Meanwhile, job search websites actually remind people that people who work in restaurants receive other important benefits, such as retirement contributions, medical and dental insurance, discounts, gym memberships, meal and paid time off, among others.
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