So before Covid, I was able to find work pretty easy. I've never been very social and don't have any real connections to leverage, but in the service industry I could easily walk into a new job if I ever needed one. I'd always last at least a few months to a couple years at any job. But ever since Covid, I've noticed a change. Since lockdowns caused my original employer of 2 and 1/2 years to lay me off, I've been constantly in and out of work. Everytime, I never last more than 2 weeks before getting fired. It always goes the same way: I get met with an extremely unfriendly staff who barely regard me and behave anti-social as fuck towards me, nothing I do is appreciated, I'm treated as if I have been there for years, nobody is actually willing to fucking train me, then all of a sudden I'm fired.
But what I've noticed is I'm usually hired during a busy period, and it's often only when things die down that I'm suddenly fired. As if they're only hiring me for a brief busy period then dropping me the second I'm not needed despite promising me a permanent position. But what's worse, is that they will then often refuse to pay me. Over 3 times since I've been job hopping since March of 2020 when covid cost me my old job, I've been in legal disputes with an employer over unpaid wages.
The most blatantly criminal example was when I got fired a few months ago (after getting fed up with a verbally abusive manager and complaining about it to a higher up), and they told me they wouldn't pay me for my last week because “We don't pay employees their last week's pay if we fire them”. So I call the labour board and a few weeks later I get my cheque. I've had to get the labour board involved too many times in the past 2 years over this issue. Each time I've won, but still.
It seems that employers, in the food service industry at least, since Covid are either far more picky with their new hires, or are no longer looking for permanent employees. It also seems they no longer want to PAY their workers either. But whatever the case, I can't maintain a job anymore, and it's killing me. It's like each new job they intend to axe me from the beginning, like I'm being set up to fail each time. Is it just me? Anyone else experiencing similiar experiences lately?