New Yorker defends restaurant work after he got laid off from his desk job. Is he actually better off now?
At one time, if you wanted job stability, you’d seek out corporate work. You could post up at a desk for 30-plus years and expect to retire with a tidy nest egg.
But amid layoffs and a tumultuous job market, that’s no longer the case — as one TikToker, Sean Lans, found out when he was recently laid off from his corporate position. Lans is now looking for a restaurant job to make some money until he finds his next desk job.
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The response he’s gotten, which he shared in a viral video, has been surprising. Many people in his life have encouraged him not to be “embarrassed” of working in a restaurant when he has a degree from a good college and a resume full of corporate roles.
“I wasn’t embarrassed. A job is a job,” Lans says. “I’m going to do whatever I need to do to get money. I always have and I always will.”
Lans understands that the economic realities are changing and that he needs to be flexible in his career path, but doesn’t understand why there’s any shame around this. In fact, his approach may be the one that can keep you in the green — even when times get tough.
Servers can make bank
As the commenters on Lans’ video explain, the notion that working in service is just a fall-back option or low-paying couldn’t be more wrong.
“People shame me for bartending but I make my rent in 5 hours and work 3 days a week,” one user writes.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that wait staff make a median salary of $29,120 per year. But much of the money that servers bring in is from tips — which often go unreported on their taxes.
There are no exact numbers on how much servers make in tips, but it’s approximated to be $100 per shift, according to staffing platform Adia. If you’re working five shifts a week, that can amount to an extra $500 a week — or $24,000 a year. This would nearly double your $29,000 base salary to $53,000.
Though tech can be a lucrative industry, the median salary for a tech worker is actually less than what a server makes with tips: $43,680 per year, according to employment marketplace ZipRecruiter.
Read more: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now use $100 to cash in on prime real estate — without the headache of being a landlord. Here's how
Corporate layoffs are rampant
Lans is just one of many white-collar workers experiencing layoffs. He didn’t specify the industry he worked in, but he says that he has previously worked in equity trading at a bank and data analytics at a tech company.
It’s been a rough start for the tech industry in 2024. Nearly 50,000 employees have been laid off from 201 tech companies so far this year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. Reuters reports that these companies include Google, Amazon and Twitch, with sources explaining that focus on AI as the main reason.
If that means people can’t rely on the tech industry for job security, they may have to be more flexible in their careers, like Lans.
“My current situation is not ideal, it’s not where I saw myself, it’s not what I wanted out of these years of my life,” he says. “But I’m trying to make the best of it.”
Even if you think it’ll never happen to you, it’s a good idea to build up a good cushion in case of unexpected job changes. A robust emergency fund (or secondary source of income) That can be saving up for an emergency fund while you’re employed or finding a second job or passive income.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
