Many who have worked in the fast-food industry would be familiar with the problem of being short-staffed or otherwise having issues with the number of people scheduled to work.
TikToker @theonlypapas shared a video joking with a co-worker at their McDonald’s location about being told that after they leave for the day, their location will be understaffed. The clip has drawn over 255,000 views as of Saturday.
“Well since both of you are leaving at 1 we’re gonna be short staffed,” a text overlay on the video reads. It is paired with an audio of someone repeatedly saying, “aw, man.”
The video’s caption reads, “Good luck to them,” implying that the Mcdonald’s workers will not be staying longer than they are scheduled despite their manager’s subtle persuasion.
@theonlypapas Good luck to them😭 @allabout.kiyla #fyp #foryou #trend #trending #viral ♬ original sound – tee vally🫀
This comes as 60% of restaurants are still experiencing high levels of understaffing, according to a Bloomberg report. As restaurant service returns to pre-COVID-19 norms, many employees laid off during shutdowns are not returning to the industry.
The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald’s regarding the video via email, as well as to @theonlypapas via a comment on the video.
Many viewers found the TikTok clip relatable and shared their own experiences of bosses trying to guilt them into staying at work later than they were scheduled to remediate a staffing issue.
“They tried to do this to me, even though they KNEW I had exam the next day,” one commenter wrote. “Like, please, let me fking leave.”
“Naw cause they rly tried to persuade me to turn my 4h shift into 8h… I ran home,” another user said.
“Ong mf tried to get me to stay til closing n they close at 2am,” one viewer echoed.
And one user simply wrote, “Sound like a scheduling problem.”
