A viral TikTok shows a sign outside of a Wendy’s saying the restaurant will hire workers the same day and pay them the next day.
User @arp.2020 filmed and posted a brief clip showing the job advertisement. The clip has received 151,000 views since it was posted. The text overlay reads, “Tell me [you’re] desperate for workers without telling me [you’re] desperate for workers.”
On the railing of the Wendy’s, a banner reads: “Now Hiring. Work today, get paid tomorrow. Apply Today.”
One commenter wrote, “Every place near me has been doing that lately, and they still can’t find workers.” Another said, “My employer put a banner out that said, ‘work any hours, no drug test, no background checks.’”
“Don’t blame people for not wanting to work in customer service,” said one woman. “I’m never going back. Quarantine brought out the worst in people.”
One comment, by Scott Bennett, said: “If companies paid well, gave good benefits, and treated people well, there wouldn’t be a shortage.”
It is difficult to tell if the Wendy’s location in the video is currently open, but the lack of employees at fast-food restaurants has become a widespread problem. A recent CNBC report stated that “executives from fast-food and quick-service brands from Burger King to Taco Bell have said that lack of workers is causing restaurants to cut back on open hours and in some cases menu items.” Even as the report says wages are increasing, many workers don’t believe the increases are enough or no longer want the stress associated with these front-facing service industry jobs.
Many attribute service industry-specific labor shortages to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent stimulus checks; however, the trend started at least two years before the pandemic, if not much longer, according to a Market Watch report from 2018.
The Daily Dot reached out to @arp.2020 and Wendy’s for comment.
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