After a long day, this Boston bartender walked out of his job. He was making $6 an hour without tips: ‘That’s not sustainable’
He's been pushed to the brink.
Josh (@joshyisacc), a bartender based in Boston, Massachusetts, unexpectedly left his job. After a long day at work, he realized that wearing multiple hats isn’t worth his $6 an hour.
“So, I just walked out of my bartending job, and I honestly don’t give a [expletive] at all,” Josh told TikTok. He explained that he feels burned out from working in unstructured environments. Josh also complained about restaurant management and owners who show little regard for their staff.
“Not only do they not give a [expletive], but they literally will come into the restaurant, criticize every little [expletive] thing you do but won’t help you, and cannot retain their staff to save their [expletive] life, and, as a matter of fact, their business,” Josh continued. Bartenders don’t have it easy, especially when a crowd of customers comes along and expects them to whip up 20 drinks on the counter magically. Josh says he isn’t alone in quiet quitting. He said other staff are constantly absent, while others like him leave because they can no longer meet the demands of their working environment.
“And these are the only [expletive] jobs that are hiring people. Like, we live in a society where people look down on you if you’re, like, struggling, because you can’t find a job,” the ex-barista said. He pointed out that despite the rough job market, the only jobs willing to hire are in the service industry, which he believes treats staffers poorly.
Too much work for too little
“People don’t want to work in restaurants. People don’t want to be a bartender for the rest of their life,” Josh said. He believes that while some people choose to be career bartenders and servers, most in the industry are “trapped” by it. Since these are the only jobs hiring, Josh believes there is no other way out of the hospitality industry. Meanwhile, this man will do anything to get a job at the Olive Garden.
“But it’s so bad for your mental health and your physical health too, because they have you doing all of this [expletive] labor and you’re getting paid $6 an hour,” he added. Josh explained that while servers get tips, they aren’t guaranteed. He continued, “You’re gonna have slow seasons where you’re not making any money.”
Josh said that where he lives, server wages are bumped up by $15 whenever they don’t receive enough tips. “But that’s not sustainable. Nobody can live off of $15 a [expletive] hour, especially where I live,” he said.
Why he wants to quit being a bartender
“I cannot deal with working in this industry anymore. This is like the third or fourth job I’ve had within a year that I’ve quit or just walked out,” Josh claimed. Because of how he was treated in his former workplaces by both guests and restaurant owners, Josh felt the need to leave.
“I’m a bartender, and then they were trying to make me, like, take tables as a server. And I’m not a server,” Josh alleged. He argued that it wasn’t in his job description. Yet, it seemed as though his management wanted him to wear multiple hats for the rate he was making.
“Today, like, three people called out. The morning bartender called out, so when I came in, nothing was [expletive] prepared. Nothing was [expletive] done. One or two servers called out, so that’s why they had me take tables,” Josh said. He alleged the restaurant was cutting servers and letting them leave, while he had to stay on the job.
“But we’re not actually a team because you guys don’t cultivate a team. You can’t retain staff, so you just retain the most desperate people that work there that cannot afford to leave their jobs,” he argued. Josh said he’s already been hired elsewhere. However, he fears that the cycle would repeat itself because he’s still in the same industry. But staffers from the service industry aren’t the only ones burning out. This nurse said she’s quitting the industry after 17 years in healthcare.
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