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milestogo

(16,829 posts)
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 12:45 PM Nov 2021

Even the convenience store/service stations can't find people to hire.

The sign on the door says hiring at $15/hr. That's not bad.

I went to buy gas. There was no sign saying the pump was out and there was a prior sale. But I couldn't get it to take my card. I pressed the help button. Nothing.

I went in the store to ask. There was only one person that I could see working in the store. I asked her what's wrong with pump 4 and she had no idea. I figured I'll buy gas tomorrow.

I decided to get some coffee. The cup size I wanted was out and I got the last lid. The only person went to the front to ring me up - there were lots of people standing around waiting to pay. No manager in sight.

If I were in her situation I'd probably be tempted to quit. Before this year this would not have happened in this store.

24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Even the convenience store/service stations can't find people to hire. (Original Post) milestogo Nov 2021 OP
Service jobs are low pay with an increasingly rude public that seems moving towards violence. marble falls Nov 2021 #1
Add to that the ever present threat of violence in this gun-crazy society EYESORE 9001 Nov 2021 #3
It seems like people Elessar Zappa Nov 2021 #2
+1 spooky3 Nov 2021 #7
Convenience stores Corgigal Nov 2021 #4
wages are important stopdiggin Nov 2021 #5
Double the pay to $30 per hour and those problems go away. MichMan Nov 2021 #6
Ditto MOMFUDSKI Nov 2021 #9
They probably aren't even paying $15/hr to start. Mariana Nov 2021 #12
$60,000 to clerk at at convenience store is pretty darn good. SYFROYH Nov 2021 #22
They don't pay that. If they did, someone would work. greymattermom Nov 2021 #8
If they even bother to call you back at all. Mariana Nov 2021 #13
Self-checkout would help, especially at a convenience store. Nt VarryOn Nov 2021 #10
The sign on the door says hiring at $15/hr. That's not bad. Mariana Nov 2021 #11
$15/hr isn't enough to live on wackadoo wabbit Nov 2021 #17
I agree, but my point is that they're probably not even paying $15/hr. Mariana Nov 2021 #19
True that wackadoo wabbit Nov 2021 #20
Typically c-store employees are required to work alone with no security pecosbob Nov 2021 #14
The ones where I live are a little bigger, and you might see 6-7 people during the day, milestogo Nov 2021 #15
The real dilemna pecosbob Nov 2021 #16
So what are people doing instead ? JI7 Nov 2021 #18
A lot of people have made great changes in their lives due to the pandemic. Mariana Nov 2021 #21
I did pretty decent with the gig app work last year for a few months madville Nov 2021 #23
Do people pay FICA taxes with these gig jobs or pay the 15 % as independent contractors? MichMan Nov 2021 #24

marble falls

(56,371 posts)
1. Service jobs are low pay with an increasingly rude public that seems moving towards violence.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 12:53 PM
Nov 2021

... $15 dollars elsewhere trumps getting browbeaten and worse working the register in a convenience store.

EYESORE 9001

(25,812 posts)
3. Add to that the ever present threat of violence in this gun-crazy society
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 12:58 PM
Nov 2021

and it’s no surprise these jobs go infilled.

Elessar Zappa

(13,650 posts)
2. It seems like people
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 12:57 PM
Nov 2021

have decided that they’re tired of working thankless service jobs. I don’t blame them. If they want to attract people, they need to raise pay and benefits to whatever it takes to get people to put up with the bullshit.

Corgigal

(9,291 posts)
4. Convenience stores
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 12:58 PM
Nov 2021

can be dangerous jobs. When I worked 911, we had a young woman taken out of the store. Most women don’t want that job at night.

stopdiggin

(11,095 posts)
5. wages are important
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:04 PM
Nov 2021

but (IMO) the reason a lot of people have quit these jobs is

it's a sh*tty job to start out with - working for sh*tty people (a lot of times the 'manager' at these places has absolutely no qualification - or clue - and almost nothing in the way of HR or people skills) - and then to top it off, dealing with a really sh*tty (and sometimes dangerous?) public.

And the person doing this thankless almost impossible job - soon comes to find out that the 'bread truck guy' that is stocking MsDebbies and Ho-Hos on the shelf - has a much, much better job (in all ways that matter) than she does. What on earth would incline you to stay?

MichMan

(11,790 posts)
6. Double the pay to $30 per hour and those problems go away.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:14 PM
Nov 2021

with good benefits and 4 weeks paid vacation. Everyone will want to work there.

Raise the price of gas 25 cents to make up for it. Customers might complain at first, but they will get used to it like they always do.

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
12. They probably aren't even paying $15/hr to start.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:45 PM
Nov 2021

Those signs almost always say "up to" in little tiny print.

greymattermom

(5,751 posts)
8. They don't pay that. If they did, someone would work.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:17 PM
Nov 2021

Those signs are all lies. So are the ads. When you interview, it will be around $8/hour with random 20 hour/week shifts.

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
13. If they even bother to call you back at all.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:59 PM
Nov 2021

Remember the story about the guy in Florida who applied for about 60 jobs, and got only a handful of responses and one interview - and that one had lied about the pay and the hours?

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/10/20/a-florida-man-applied-for-60-entry-level-jobs-in-a-month-to-prove-the-so-called-labor-shortage-is-a-myth

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
11. The sign on the door says hiring at $15/hr. That's not bad.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 01:43 PM
Nov 2021

Did it actually say that, or did it say "up to" $15/hr?

wackadoo wabbit

(1,160 posts)
17. $15/hr isn't enough to live on
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 07:04 PM
Nov 2021

We need to stop normalizing the idea that $15/hr is a good wage.

Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage should be $24/hr.

Here's a link, in case anyone doesn't believe me: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/21/politics/minimum-wage-inflation-productivity/index.html

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
19. I agree, but my point is that they're probably not even paying $15/hr.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 08:13 PM
Nov 2021

Applicants will be told that there are requirements that they conveniently don't meet to make that wage, and they'll be offered much less.

Those signs are good PR, too, even if the place isn't actually hiring. They lead customers like the OP to believe that everyone who works there is paid at least $15/hr.

pecosbob

(7,511 posts)
14. Typically c-store employees are required to work alone with no security
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 03:58 PM
Nov 2021

Think the money's worth it? I was assaulted three times in two years.

milestogo

(16,829 posts)
15. The ones where I live are a little bigger, and you might see 6-7 people during the day,
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 04:07 PM
Nov 2021

and 3 at night. The ones that get hit often tend to close at 11 and not be open overnight.

I worked at one 20 years ago. The owner changed closing time from 11 to 10pm after a holdup. It helped a lot because, all the neighborhood people who used to come in from 10-11 came in earlier. The store is safer when there are more people in it.

But I could hardly wait to get out of there.

pecosbob

(7,511 posts)
16. The real dilemna
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 04:16 PM
Nov 2021

is that if you try to protect yourself or the store's property you become a civil liability to the store and get fired by corporate.

JI7

(89,184 posts)
18. So what are people doing instead ?
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 07:22 PM
Nov 2021

I'm going to guess the gig economy might be one thing.

There are issues with it but there is more flexibility and pay is better though not regular. They might even be taking classes or trying things on their own like selling online , making YouTube videos etc.

So one of the things I'm thinking is happening is that people realize they can work less at the gig jobs but they get paid about the same or more than working longer at the retail customer service jobs.

Also many of these jobs usually had immigrants working and maybe there are less immigrants due to covid and other things making it more difficult for them to come here.

I'm in the Los Angeles area and it does look like places are understaffed and places have huge signs for job openings with starting pay at many over 15 . I believe minimum wage is 15 here.

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
21. A lot of people have made great changes in their lives due to the pandemic.
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 09:21 PM
Nov 2021

More than 3 million people have retired earlier than they had planned. Hundreds of thousands have died of Covid, and even more are disabled because of it, and can no longer work. Many former two-income families are making do on one income. Many former employees are now self-employed (including gig jobs). Many students' parents won't allow them to work where they have to deal with nasty, abusive, Covid-infested customers. Etc. It all adds up to an awful lot more people who just aren't available for hire at this time.

Employers need to accept this new reality. Seems like most of them are convinced that there's this vast pool of potential employees who will come crawling back any day, begging to work for low wages and in shitty conditions. They are very wrong.

madville

(7,397 posts)
23. I did pretty decent with the gig app work last year for a few months
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 10:17 PM
Nov 2021

I mostly did Instacart, and some Uber Eats and Door Dash about 40-45 hours a week total, worked mostly peak times in good areas and easily grossed $900-1000 a week. This was mostly during a time when my regular job wouldn't let us come to work due to COVID but was still paying us full salary so an extra $3000-4000 a month was pretty sweet. Even when I went back to work full time I would do a few runs after work kinda on the way home, easy to make an extra $1000 a month.

MichMan

(11,790 posts)
24. Do people pay FICA taxes with these gig jobs or pay the 15 % as independent contractors?
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 10:34 PM
Nov 2021

Last edited Mon Nov 29, 2021, 01:15 AM - Edit history (1)

if not, what do they plan to retire on ?

When my wife worked as an independent contractor for a couple years we were required to pay FICA taxes quarterly or face a penalty at tax time along with paying the SS taxes.

I always worked as a regular employee until I retired earlier this year. Fortunate to have contributed regularly to my 401k with a nominal limited employer match and plan on filing for SS in a couple months.


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