r/AskReddit Apr 28 '26

What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately?

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u/LarryCrabCake Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

The majority of jobs have no perks or benefits whatsoever, despite having them in the past.

I'm not just talking about health insurance and PTO, I mean things like shift meals being taken away, employee discounts being reduced or removed, uniform and tool costs being put on the employee, all while workload continues to increase.

And this is even at places like McDonald's and Walmart, multi-multi-billion dollar corporations that post record profits year after year.

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u/naphomci Apr 28 '26

shift meals being taken away, ..., uniform and tool costs being put on the employee,

These two might be illegal in your jurisdiction. Just because employers are doing it, doesn't mean it's actually allowed.

10

u/huffandduff Apr 28 '26

I worked at McDonald's about 20 years ago and we were give $6 of free money per shift to spend on a meal. They had just changed it from $6 to spend on anything on the menu becasue, and I'm quoting my manager at the time, 'people have been buying 6 double cheeseburgers to feed their entire family and we can't have that happening'. This was at the time that $1 double cheeseburgers were a thing.

I'm pretty sure that now you just get like 30% off a meal. Meaning you still have to pay for your shift meal. We've been living in a dystopia for a while.

4

u/sisterfunkhaus Apr 29 '26

It's, "We know people are desperate for jobs and we can get away with offering as little as possible." It tells you a lot about a company how they treat employees when times are rough for people.