A woman on TikTok says she quit her job in a field she holds a bachelor’s degree in to work at a Domino’s restaurant. She says the fast-food chain pays better.
@c0rynne, a TikTok user, posted a six-second clip on April 16 that has since garnered over 1.4 million views. In the video, she films herself in her Domino’s uniform, saluting the camera against a backdrop of a highly distorted U.S. anthem mixed in with hawk screeches.
The on-screen caption reads, “Leaving my big girl job that required a bachelor’s degree to go work at Domino’s because they pay almost $4 more an hour + tips and my superiors aren’t bullies.”
And in her caption, she says, “The way i earned more in four hours on a slow day delivering pizza than i did an 8 hour shift working for NBC.”
@c0rynne the way i earned more in four hours on a slow day delivering pizza than i did an 8 hour shift working for NBC 😭
♬ AMERICA F YEAH – ✝️ Why 🇵🇱
Since its posting, the video has gone viral, with many users going to the comments section to share similar experiences of leaving jobs that required higher education in favor of positions in fast food, retail, and tutoring that offered better compensation.
One commenter wrote, “Me with a biochemistry degree unable to get hired at a lab for more than $22 but working at Subway for $25 and tutoring for $24.”
Another shared, “The bank I work at requires a degree and yet the Chipotle workers next door make more than I do.”
“Was doing graphic design marketing and I’m now a bartender,” a third remarked.
Other commenters criticized the corporate lifestyle, calling it overrated.
The wage gap between workers with college degree and those with a high school diploma
However, while we shouldn’t discount these personal accounts, the larger trend is still clear—the wage gap between college-educated individuals and those with only a high school diploma continues to widen.
According to an Axios report, this disparity remains true even with fresh graduates and only widens as college graduates and those with high school diplomas get older.
The article states, “In 2023, recent college grads age 22-27 working full-time earned $24,000 more per year than 22-27 year olds with only a high school degree,” further noting, “To put that in perspective, by their early 20s the high-school degree workers likely have many more years of work experience than the new college grads — yet they’re still getting out-earned.”
But looking at the wage gap between college and high school grads doesn’t paint the entire picture. The job market doesn’t value all majors equally, and the wage gap between certain majors is even more stark.
According to Money, a personal finance website, “Overall, median wages for early grads range from $32,000 to $74,000, for another income gap of $42,000. This pay-gap-by-major far exceeds the difference in earnings between college and high school grads.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @c0rynne via TikTok comment.
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