The food service industry is purportedly still recovering from the labor shortage that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. While many other industries, including popular retail chains, reported that they were over-staffed as early as mid-2022, restaurants and eateries were still scrambling to get enough folks to come in and work.
TikTok user Sam (@ininafere), however, stated that she was unable to get hired as a server at Chili’s despite the franchise location showing on Indeed that they have an open position.
Sam writes in a text overlay of the TikTok: “Just got off the phone with chilis they said they weren’t looking for new servers.” She then flips her camera to show the job listing on Indeed at a New Jersey location.
She added in the comments section that this hasn’t been the only job she’s been unable to land.
“It’s not even just them I applied to like 30 places and NOTHING it’s so crazy is it me or inflation,” she wrote.
@ininaifere No hate to the manager but damnnn #jobsearch ♬ WHY YALL USING THIS SOUND OML – CYRUS
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sam via TikTok comment and Chili’s via email for further information.
According to other TikTok users, this appears to be a recurring theme: folks just can’t seem to land a job no matter how many different businesses they apply to.
“I was applying and applying to jobs who said they needed people badly and they just won’t get back to me,” one user wrote.
Another said, “I’ve been ghosted or rejected by 15 different places including Wendy’s and Lowes (I’ve worked there before too).”
One user penned, “I straight up had an interview and I called bc I was running two minutes behind and they’re like ‘well we’re not hiring for servers anyways’ LMAO.”
But there were other users who speculated as to why businesses might be putting out ads that they were hiring, like @ros_web117 who claimed, “Fun fact. Companies get tax breaks when they have a bunch of ads but don’t hire ppl. Joann corporate taught me that.”
TikTok user @wonderfullywitchythings thought that there might be another reason entirely companies are asking for personal information from job applicants.
“How much you wanna bet it’s the companies putting ads out for information collection?” they wrote.
Talk of a 2023 recession seems to have flipped “The Great Resignation” script of 2022 considerably. With massive layoffs from Big Tech companies, and reports that “hiring will be slow” this year, there are a number of analysts urging employees to hold onto their current roles. However, CNBC reports that a whopping 96% of the workforce are looking for new jobs in 2023.
