Global Courant
It’s been, if you will, a matter of dismay control since TikTok user Roxie Abernathy learned that Buc-ee’s gas station pays its restroom janitors the same hourly rate she earns as a case manager.
“I haven’t been the same since then,” she says in one videowhich has garnered more than 55,000 comments since she posted it.
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“Running the car wash (pays) more money than I make as a case manager.”
In a follow-up video, Abernathy pointed to her followers a picture of a job posting on a Bucc-ee job board that read 401(k) contributions would be compensated up to 6% and employees would receive up to three weeks of paid leave. “No hate for these positions, but at the same time I’m still in shock about this discovery.”
It’s not just Buc-ee’s
Buc-ee’s job site, Abernathy Posted revealed that the median pay of restroom attendants is $18 per hour. Meanwhile, case manager salary ranges from $13.67 to $35.49, with an average of about $22, according to Indeed.
So chances are she’s right: an experienced janitor could earn the same hourly wage as an entry-level case manager in some parts of the country.
People in the comment section weren’t surprised. “My cousin is the GM of a venue and he makes $143,000 a year. His 401(k) matching is better than my corporate job,” someone said. Another commenter said managers of the local Panda Express made more money than she did, even though she was the “supervisor of social workers.”
Some workers were also impressed. “I’m a maintenance person and I make more than most employees at my job,” says TikTok user Sidney. “People see us as less than because we clean toilets.”
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These comments point to a growing shift in the economy where there are white-collar jobs quickly less attractive then blue collars.
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White-Blue trend reversal
Tech giants have in common tens of thousands of jobs lost in the first half of 2023. Most of these layoffs targeted white-collar workers such as middle managers, accountants, software engineers and project managers.
Advances in artificial intelligence could accelerate this trend and further depress white-collar wages. a study OpenAI found that professional roles that require more education and are more likely to be remote are disproportionate exposed to AI disruption. According to the report, at least 80% of office workers will have at least 10% of their tasks performed by AI.
Simply put, lawyers, doctors and writers could be more likely to lose their jobs to AI.
Meanwhile, a shortage of skilled labor in construction and trade has pushed up wages in this segment of the workforce. As this trend continues, people may realize that the wage gap between white and blue-collar workers is narrowing rapidly.
“Employed workers may experience a recession that blue collar workers don’t,” says Dr. Giacomo Santangelo, professor of economics at Fordham University told VOA. He believes that the cultural disregard for manual labor has caused this undersupply of manual laborers. “We’ve gotten into the habit of saying it’s important to go to college, rather than saying it’s important to learn a skill,” says Santangelo.
The long-term social and political impact of this shift is still unclear. But as long as a place like Buc-ee’s pays its toilet attendants and some attendants, it might be time to flush those old assumptions down the drain.
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This article provides information only and should not be taken as advice. It comes without any kind of warranty.
