Applying for a job in 2026

[u/cavaismylife]

[u/RainyMcBrainy]

Nah. Bachelor's degrees are the new high school diploma. Retail and food service are filled with college graduates.

[u/Bitter-Ad5890 → u/RainyMcBrainy]

I guess we’ve worked at very different retail and food service places 🤣 college graduates are rare. And becoming rarer as ordinary degrees mean less and less. They only really become important in specialized fields

[u/RainyMcBrainy → u/Bitter-Ad5890]

College graduates of what age group? Millennials? Or younger? We were sold something very different than the generations after us. They got to watch us and see what went wrong. Also, what level of employment are we talking? Retail and food service are industries. Not every position is entry level or done by solely 18 year olds (who wouldn't be millennials anyway).

[u/Dakotakid02 → u/RainyMcBrainy]

Some of them are getting a little skeptical of hiring you because they’re afraid you’ll bolt the second a real offer comes to you.

[u/Crime_Dawg → u/Dakotakid02]

In fast food, they should assume every employee can bolt at any possible time lol.

[u/HereToTalkAboutThis → u/Crime_Dawg]

In fast food you hire someone as long as they don't have an active warrant out for their arrest or something and then you hope you'll actually see them again lol

Everyone at that job is ready to bolt the second something goes wrong enough or they get a real offer

[u/Dakotakid02 → u/[deleted]]

I agree and likely the person with a degree would be pretty structured and organized. I also think it’s low key, “we don’t want anyone with an education that might teach the high school graduates about unions, striking, and employment laws.”

[u/Ed_McNuglets → u/Dakotakid02]

Also someone who doesn't have a lot of options will likely work for less pay.

[u/Nuggyfresh → u/[deleted]]

You are missing the part where they have 100 candidates who they think won’t bolt. How things “should work” is utterly meaningless.

[u/sly-3 → u/Dakotakid02]

as if their usual strategy of staffing these dead end jobs with half-wit HS dropouts has a low turnover.

[u/Dakotakid02 → u/sly-3]

They can deal with idiots cycling in and out, they can’t deal with a long term group of educated staffers that can call them on their bullshit anytime they try to take tips away from them

[u/Wolfiee021 → u/RainyMcBrainy]

Huh not really, very few people have degrees i'm guessing you live in a bubble

[u/Sunshineafterr → u/Wolfiee021]

73% of millennials enrolled in college by their twenties, and 40% earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.

[u/RainyMcBrainy → u/Wolfiee021]

Very few people have degrees? Millennials are the most college educated generation so far.

[u/zffjk → u/Wolfiee021]

I think you might want to revisit this opinion.

[u/RainyMcBrainy → u/[deleted]]

Lots of people make 6 figures. 6 figures is the new 60K. People in retail and food service make 6 figures too.