Guy Explains Why He And His Team Quit From Wendy's, Goes Viral On Twitter

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.

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.

"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."