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part time working in hospitality: burnout

ive worked in a local cafe for over a year now, and i am only now considering leaving. i know hospitality is an awful industry to go into, but its a good deal in that it means i can fit my studies around working as i'm on a zero hour contract. i work when i come home for summer, easter, xmas ect from uni.

firstly, the management is awful, and there is little communication between supervisors/managers, so we often end up getting told different & contradicting information. when i come home, they often schedule me to work 5/6 days a week so even on the days i do rest i have no energy to actually do anything. on the days i do work, i work around 6-8 hours a day with a 15 minute break. i'm on my feet all day, doing multiple peoples jobs at once eg serving food, clearing & wiping tables, making coffee & hot drinks, dishwashing in the kitchen, bringing the dishes to the front, serving ice cream and food, and being on till. often i'll get told after like 10 minutes to move stations and its so confusing. we have an ice cream stand where we sell ice cream too, and sometimes we just get left there alone for hours, having to handle working the till while serving ice cream, and topping up anything.

yesterday was my last straw, my shift was 10-6pm, and i got my break at 10:40am, 40 mins into my shift. i asked if i could have it later and they said no its now or never. so i ate lunch at 10:40-10:55am. meaning from 11-6pm (7) hours i was on my feet and didnt eat anything. i have low iron & also have glucose spikes and although my workplace does not know about this, it is inhumane to make someone go for 7 hours without food. i felt dizzy, sick, and thought i was going to faint multiple times, and even when i physically was not well i still got told to 'carry this heavy tray' do this do that ect. they rlly dont give a **** at all, and even when i was serving ice cream and dealing with rude customers, some verbally abusive, not once did someone come to check on me. meaning when i ran out of a supply i had to run inside to get it and run back as i was the only person on ice cream. i have no energy left at the end of my shifts, and i feel like a human punch bag, with customers treating me like dirt and my supervisors doing the same. i often get creepy men staring at me in a sexualising manner, i sometimes get awful comments, and sometimes customers swearing/shouting at staff.

im def suffering from burnout, today i began cycling to work and i got down the street and turned around and stayed home and called in sick, which i have never done before. i just cannot let myself be treated like that, it is so dehumanising that i have started to feel like not a real person myself, and some awful thoughts of self destruction are coming back.
i want to continue working in a cafe, but a different one although i have no idea how similar the working conditions will be.

Reply 1

i used to work in a coffee shop like you and i quit right after my probation ended. although it was just a coffee shop but the people there were too toxic. i quit and now i'm doing Content Creation about everyday life. You can try this job but be persistent!
Original post
by emelianiloufar
ive worked in a local cafe for over a year now, and i am only now considering leaving. i know hospitality is an awful industry to go into, but its a good deal in that it means i can fit my studies around working as i'm on a zero hour contract. i work when i come home for summer, easter, xmas ect from uni.
firstly, the management is awful, and there is little communication between supervisors/managers, so we often end up getting told different & contradicting information. when i come home, they often schedule me to work 5/6 days a week so even on the days i do rest i have no energy to actually do anything. on the days i do work, i work around 6-8 hours a day with a 15 minute break. i'm on my feet all day, doing multiple peoples jobs at once eg serving food, clearing & wiping tables, making coffee & hot drinks, dishwashing in the kitchen, bringing the dishes to the front, serving ice cream and food, and being on till. often i'll get told after like 10 minutes to move stations and its so confusing. we have an ice cream stand where we sell ice cream too, and sometimes we just get left there alone for hours, having to handle working the till while serving ice cream, and topping up anything.
yesterday was my last straw, my shift was 10-6pm, and i got my break at 10:40am, 40 mins into my shift. i asked if i could have it later and they said no its now or never. so i ate lunch at 10:40-10:55am. meaning from 11-6pm (7) hours i was on my feet and didnt eat anything. i have low iron & also have glucose spikes and although my workplace does not know about this, it is inhumane to make someone go for 7 hours without food. i felt dizzy, sick, and thought i was going to faint multiple times, and even when i physically was not well i still got told to 'carry this heavy tray' do this do that ect. they rlly dont give a **** at all, and even when i was serving ice cream and dealing with rude customers, some verbally abusive, not once did someone come to check on me. meaning when i ran out of a supply i had to run inside to get it and run back as i was the only person on ice cream. i have no energy left at the end of my shifts, and i feel like a human punch bag, with customers treating me like dirt and my supervisors doing the same. i often get creepy men staring at me in a sexualising manner, i sometimes get awful comments, and sometimes customers swearing/shouting at staff.
im def suffering from burnout, today i began cycling to work and i got down the street and turned around and stayed home and called in sick, which i have never done before. i just cannot let myself be treated like that, it is so dehumanising that i have started to feel like not a real person myself, and some awful thoughts of self destruction are coming back.
i want to continue working in a cafe, but a different one although i have no idea how similar the working conditions will be.

Could you ask to do less hours? e.g. rather than work 5/6 days a week, ask to only do 4 or something.
If you have things like low iron, then id tell them about it. They should have a duty of care. If they dont know then they cant do anything. If you tell them and they chose to ignore it, then if anything happens then at least you can say you told them and they should know and the should have a duty of care etc.

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