While “The Great Resignation” of 2021 might be over, many labor sectors are still struggling to bounce back and retain workers. One of those is the fast-food sector, which requires in-person attendance and often offers lower wages and poor working conditions.
A TikToker has sparked outrage in his comments section after posting a video questioning why people are refusing to work at his local McDonald’s.
@dadtastic1 Why are people not working? please explain. What am I missing? #work #hiring #hiringnow #notworking #handouts #freemoney #wellfare #ebt #foodstamps #ssi #salary #income #peoplenotworking ♬ original sound – Dadtastic
In the video, TikTok user @dadtastic1 expresses his frustrations while filming a closed McDonald’s. He says: “I just placed the order on the app and [the McDonald’s worker] goes ‘Hold on a minute. All right, go up to the front door.’ Manager came out, gave me a refund, and said they’re closed today from 1:30 until 4 because they can’t get anyone to work; they only have two people, amazing!”
He then questions why people aren’t working. “What are people doing? Why are people not working? There are no more handouts so what is going on? Please, someone explain this to me,” he says.
The video was posted on Oct. 27 and accumulated over 40,000 views.
In the comments section, viewers shared plausible reasons why workers are avoiding McDonald’s.
“Because we found other jobs that pay us what we are worth we won’t work for low wages,” one commenter said.
“You can’t make a living there. People literally can’t afford to work at McDonald’s,” another argued.
“A combo meal costs more than these workers make in an hour. They went elsewhere because they had to,” another commenter remarked.
McDonald’s workers make $8 per hour on average, according to workstream. The “minimum federal hourly rate of $7.25 per hour is worth less than any time since February 1956” due to inflation, CNBC reported, citing analysis from the Economic Policy Institute.
The comments section prompted @dadtastic1 to post a follow-up TikTok, in which he responds to all the feedback he’s received. “I genuinely, honestly, appreciate all the responses on the video. Yeah, maybe I’m getting beat up on them, that’s fine, go ahead. Because I genuinely, actually, didn’t know the reason why it was happening,” he says.
The Daily Dot reached out to @dadtastic1 via TikTok comment and McDonald’s via press email.
