A viral TikTok by a former Wendy’s manager revealed the working conditions that led to him and 17 of his colleagues quitting on the same day, a trend becoming all too familiar as the Great Resignation continues to ravage the workforce.
In short, the low-wage employees were neglected throughout the pandemic which placed their health at risk for long hours and little pay.
But the TikTok user, who goes by the name mintjuul.666, has painted a much broader picture of the situation. The man said that during the pandemic, he lost his assistant general manager, general manager, and six coworkers while he continued working as a shift manager. Eventually, he was promoted to an assistant general manager position and took on 85-hour work weeks with no days off to keep the joint up and running, making just $14.77 an hour.
And that’s not even all of it.
A story on Wendy’s working conditions has blown up after former creative director and digital communications director for Bernie Sanders shared it on Twitter
Image credits: jmillerlewis
Originally, it appeared on TikTok
@mintjuul.666♬ original sound – fadedty❤️🔥
And serves as a reminder that the Great Resignation is far from over
Image credits: mintjuul.66
Image credits: mintjuul.66
Image credits: mintjuul.66
This isn’t the first example of a mass quitting by fast-food employees. Earlier this month, we published an entire list of similar examples.
While the pandemic has led millions of workers to leave their jobs in search of better opportunities, the rates are especially high for in-person roles in traditionally lower-paying industries, according to the latest data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When it comes to leisure and hospitality specifically, the sector logged nearly a million quits (987,000) with most coming from accommodation and food services workers.
Here’s a breakdown of how it unfolded
@mintjuul.666 since people wanted to know 😭it’s pretty interesting btw 🥴#wendys #unbearable #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – fadedty❤️🔥
Image credits: mintjuul.666
Image credits: mintjuul.666
Image credits: mintjuul.666
Image credits: mintjuul.666
Image credits: mintjuul.666
Image credits: mintjuul.666
“Right now, the job market appears tightest for workers without a four-year degree and for those in relatively lower wage roles,” Guy Berger, LinkedIn’s principal economist, told Fortune. The industries experiencing elevated quits—like leisure and hospitality, and accommodation and food services—have significant proportions of such workers.
The pandemic threw a heavier punch to these groups both in terms of layoffs and COVID cases, and many are now finally feeling a sense of optimism that they can take their skills and experiences elsewhere to secure a better deal, Berger added. “They have more bargaining power now than we’ve seen in decades.”
Unfortunately, many people have been relating to the whole ordeal
Wendy's has no smart come backs to this?? I'm glad they all buggered off. What a s**t job and s**t place to work. AND if it's a shitty job but they would pay a decent wage, and be good for their employees, why then yes these employees would have stayed.
Wendy's was searching for a way to make the employees look bad. They quickly found out that it was better to keep their mouth shut.
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they're replacing with kiosk/app based ordering and payment systems. Fairly soon they won't have hardly any staff at all. Even supermarkets in my city have replaced more than half the cashiers with self-checkout lanes, one in particular has gone 100% self checkout.
they still need them for other jobs, like making food or filling shelves. My local Walmart has employees standing because the checkout machine have cryptic error codes that pop up a lot. People seem to need a lot of help with the machines too.
Load More Replies...
Places like Wendy's and McDonald's are able to exist and profit because people will not stop eating there. The food is garbage, the employees are treated like garbage and you pay too much for what little you get. The average person doesn't care as long as they get what they want when they want it.
I had exactly this experience at my KFC job...in 1981, without the excuse of a pandemic. Though I did get a raise, it was only $1 more per hour...and when they finally hired (and I trained) a GM and crew, they fired me for my 'high wages'. 40 years later, it's about damned time workers take their power back.
There was no mention of overtime pay? If no overtime pay was paid, then there is a serious federal lawsuit coming down on Wendy's.
Management is almost always Exempt status from overtime laws. There is no overtime protections if so, as it is a lawful Federal status.
Load More Replies...
This is pathetic...how can a multi million dollar company like Wendy's not at the very least pretend to take care of their people. I see these stories and it doesn't surprise me that customer service is in the shitter and people aren't pleasant or polite when you go to a restaurant/store/anywhere working with the public. These guys need someone in their corner and if corporate won't do it then I don't blame them for quitting.
I don't feel sorry.......for this guy and the 17 spoon fed people that worked for him. If you are making 14.77 an hour and they promote you....it's up to you to ask for a compensation increase as well or, guess what, I'm not taking the promotion. If you are bumped to a double shift because of labor shortages....guess what, it's your fault that you didn't speak up about only working a 40 hour shift. It's saddening that the culture we've made is one where, when a grunt employee isn't 'feeling good' about their position, or 'feel appreciated' for the work they are doing, then they quit in glorious fashion and it turn into a huge social media story. Work a crappy job for the length of time it takes to request a promotion, AND, when you feel you've gone ABOVE AND BEYOND without complaining or making a fuss, go meet with your manager and explain you deserve a compensation increase, & present it to them in a professional way so that they would be hard pressed not to consider. Do The Work!
So the fast food people demanded $15 an hour for part time work, protested and demonstrated for it, got arrested for it.. and STILL had the nerve to quit 3 years later. Now the kids that are hired don't give a damn because they're overpaid and it's all play money for them because of no real responsibilities especially if they aren't going to school, which makes things worse for everyone else as a customer.
The vast majority of fast food workers don't make $15 an hour. And even if they did, for my part, you'd have to pay me a hell of a lot more than that to work 80+ hour weeks.
Load More Replies...
Wendy's has no smart come backs to this?? I'm glad they all buggered off. What a s**t job and s**t place to work. AND if it's a shitty job but they would pay a decent wage, and be good for their employees, why then yes these employees would have stayed.
Wendy's was searching for a way to make the employees look bad. They quickly found out that it was better to keep their mouth shut.
Load More Replies... they're replacing with kiosk/app based ordering and payment systems. Fairly soon they won't have hardly any staff at all. Even supermarkets in my city have replaced more than half the cashiers with self-checkout lanes, one in particular has gone 100% self checkout.
they still need them for other jobs, like making food or filling shelves. My local Walmart has employees standing because the checkout machine have cryptic error codes that pop up a lot. People seem to need a lot of help with the machines too.
Load More Replies... Places like Wendy's and McDonald's are able to exist and profit because people will not stop eating there. The food is garbage, the employees are treated like garbage and you pay too much for what little you get. The average person doesn't care as long as they get what they want when they want it.
I had exactly this experience at my KFC job...in 1981, without the excuse of a pandemic. Though I did get a raise, it was only $1 more per hour...and when they finally hired (and I trained) a GM and crew, they fired me for my 'high wages'. 40 years later, it's about damned time workers take their power back.
There was no mention of overtime pay? If no overtime pay was paid, then there is a serious federal lawsuit coming down on Wendy's.
Management is almost always Exempt status from overtime laws. There is no overtime protections if so, as it is a lawful Federal status.
Load More Replies... This is pathetic...how can a multi million dollar company like Wendy's not at the very least pretend to take care of their people. I see these stories and it doesn't surprise me that customer service is in the shitter and people aren't pleasant or polite when you go to a restaurant/store/anywhere working with the public. These guys need someone in their corner and if corporate won't do it then I don't blame them for quitting.
I don't feel sorry.......for this guy and the 17 spoon fed people that worked for him. If you are making 14.77 an hour and they promote you....it's up to you to ask for a compensation increase as well or, guess what, I'm not taking the promotion. If you are bumped to a double shift because of labor shortages....guess what, it's your fault that you didn't speak up about only working a 40 hour shift. It's saddening that the culture we've made is one where, when a grunt employee isn't 'feeling good' about their position, or 'feel appreciated' for the work they are doing, then they quit in glorious fashion and it turn into a huge social media story. Work a crappy job for the length of time it takes to request a promotion, AND, when you feel you've gone ABOVE AND BEYOND without complaining or making a fuss, go meet with your manager and explain you deserve a compensation increase, & present it to them in a professional way so that they would be hard pressed not to consider. Do The Work!
So the fast food people demanded $15 an hour for part time work, protested and demonstrated for it, got arrested for it.. and STILL had the nerve to quit 3 years later. Now the kids that are hired don't give a damn because they're overpaid and it's all play money for them because of no real responsibilities especially if they aren't going to school, which makes things worse for everyone else as a customer.
The vast majority of fast food workers don't make $15 an hour. And even if they did, for my part, you'd have to pay me a hell of a lot more than that to work 80+ hour weeks.
Load More Replies... 
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