Pros and Cons of Working in Fast Food

You think about working in a fast-food restaurant but want to get additional information on working conditions, salaries, job prospects, educational requirements and much more?

Great! This article is exactly for you since I will show you all the pros and cons of working in a fast-food restaurant in the following chapters.

Fast Food Restaurant Worker Job Profile

Advantages of Working in a Fast Food Restaurant

1. You don’t need a college degree for working in fast food
2. You don’t have to deal with student loan debt
3. You can start making money at a rather young age
4. You don’t need to be smart to work in a fast food restaurant
5. You can make people happy on a daily basis
6. You may be able to improve your cooking skills
7. You can work with people with many different nationalities
8. Fast food workers can find jobs all over the world
9. Working in fast food can make sense if you urgently need additional money
10. You can learn your job pretty easily
11. Working in fast food can be great for students and retirees

You don’t need a college degree for working in fast food

One advantage of working in fast food is that you don’t need fancy education to start your career in this field.

Instead of getting a college degree as you would have to do if you wanted to work as a financial analyst or in other fancy positions, you just have to finish high school and you will be good to go.

You don’t have to deal with student loan debt

Since you don’t have to go to college, you also don’t have to spend lots of money in this regard and also don’t have to worry about paying back student loan debt as many of your friends might have to do.

You can start making money at a rather young age

Due to the fact that you don’t need a fancy degree for working in a fast food restaurant, you can also start making money at a pretty young age while many of your friends will still be in college and you will therefore be able to become independent of your parents much faster.

You don’t need to be smart to work in a fast food restaurant

Another upside to being a fast food worker is that you don’t need a high IQ for such a career.

While it can help to be smart to get your work done in an efficient manner, you don’t need to be a genius and most people have the mental capabilities to work in this field.

You can make people happy on a daily basis

Since you are in the service and food industry, you can make many people happy on a daily basis and this can give you the feeling that your job makes sense and that you do something important for society so that you can stay motivated with your fast food job in the long run.

You may be able to improve your cooking skills

Since you will learn a lot about how to make pizza, burgers or other fast food, you can also improve your cooking skills quite a lot and this can be beneficial also for your private life since you can try many recipes at home and can also get many new ideas in this regard.

You can work with people with many different nationalities

In most fast food chains, you can meet people with many different nationalities and this can be quite interesting since you will learn a lot about different cultures and can also make many new friends within a rather short period of time.

Fast food workers can find jobs all over the world

Another benefit of being a fast food worker is that you can also find jobs all over the world.

In fact, fast food restaurants are present in almost every country and in case you don’t want to work in your home country anymore and want to move to a different region, chances are that you will find a new job pretty soon.

Working in fast food can make sense if you urgently need additional money

Many people also work in fast food restaurants since they urgently need the money and want to work a second job to get out of debt as quickly as possible.

Hence, if you are in a difficult financial situation right now, you may want to work a day job and work additional hours in a fast food restaurant to get out of your mess soon.

You can learn your job pretty easily

Working in fast food is not the most complicated profession and you will therefore be able to get good at your job rather quickly since there are not many complex hard skills you need to learn and you don’t have to be afraid that you will get overwhelmed with your job since you will develop a certain routine sooner or later.

Working in fast food can be great for students and retirees

Working in a fast food restaurant can also make sense for students and retirees since those groups of people often urgently need money and also have the time to work rather flexible hours while they don’t need high qualification levels to start working in the fast food industry.

Now that you know all the reasons for working in fast food, we also have to talk about the drawbacks of working in a fast food restaurant so that you can better decide whether you still want to work in fast food or rather want to go for a job in a different industry.

Disadvantages of Working in Fast Food

1. Fast-food workers don’t make good money
2. Many fast food workers suffer from old-age poverty
3. Hard to provide for your family as a fast food worker
4. You will not be able to afford any luxury
5. You may need to work a second job
6. Working in fast food is not exciting
7. You do pretty repetitive tasks all day long
8. Customers can be difficult
9. Many people may not understand your career choice
10. You often have to work on weekends in fast food restaurants
11. Fast food workers often have to work at nighttime
12. Pretty poor work-life balance for fast-food workers
13. You may suffer from sleeping problems
14. Not the best job if you want to have a family
15. You have a rather hard time in the dating market
16. Fast food workers have a pretty low social status
17. Working in fast food can be physically demanding
18. Fast food workers have pretty poor exit options
19. Hard to make a positive social impact as a fast food worker
20. Working conditions are often pretty poor
21. You have to work in a hot environment with bad air quality
22. Limited promotion opportunities for fast food workers

Fast-food workers don’t make good money

One downside to working in fast food is that fast food workers don’t make good money and many of them struggle to even make a basic living from what they are doing.

Consequently, fast food workers often have a hard time paying their bills and also frequently get into financial problems sooner or later.

Many fast food workers suffer from old-age poverty

Due to their low salary, it is also pretty hard for fast food workers to save and invest enough money for retirement and many of them will therefore suffer from serious old-age poverty once they quit their active careers and no longer have an income.

Hard to provide for your family as a fast food worker

Since you have a hard time making good money in fast food restaurants, it will also be pretty hard for you to provide for your family as a fast food worker and you will also not be able to buy nice things for your loved ones while you will envy many of your friends working in private equity or other well-paying jobs in this regard.

You will not be able to afford any luxury

You should also be aware of the fact that due to your low salary, you will also not be able to afford any luxury as a fast food worker and will sometimes even struggle to pay your basic expenses and you will therefore always have to worry about your financial future.

You may need to work a second job

Some fast food workers are also not able to make enough money from their jobs to pay their bills and may have to work a second job to survive and this will take away lots of leisure from them in the long run.

Working in fast food is not exciting

You should also keep in mind that working in fast food is not exciting since you will just not have the same action at work as policemen or many other people out there and may therefore lose motivation for what you are doing pretty quickly.

You do pretty repetitive tasks all day long

Another disadvantage of working in fast food is that your workdays will be quite similar since you will do many repetitive tasks and you will just not be able to be creative at work which may really annoy you in the long run and you may also get bored with what you are doing rather soon.

Customers can be difficult

While most people will be friendly, there will also be some customers trying to bring you down and if you don’t have a stable mindset to ignore those snarky comments, you may get really unhappy with your fast food job in the long run.

Many people may not understand your career choice

Your loved ones may also not understand your decision of becoming a fast food worker and you may therefore have to justify quite a lot in this regard and may also feel insulted by the comments of your family and friends since they may not appreciate what you do for a living.

You often have to work on weekends in fast food restaurants

As a fast food worker, you also have to work on weekends on a regular basis and this can be pretty annoying since secretaries and many other people can enjoy their leisure during those days and while your friends will have fun, you will have to work instead and may have to neglect your social contacts.

Fast food workers often have to work at nighttime

Not only will you have to work on weekends, but many fast-food workers also have to work at nighttime and this can be pretty annoying since you will have to work while most other people sleep and you may therefore lose motivation for your job rather quickly.

Pretty poor work-life balance for fast-food workers

Since you have to work on weekends and at nighttime quite often, many fast food workers also have pretty poor work-life balance and don’t have enough time for their loved ones.

You may suffer from sleeping problems

Since you will often have to work at nighttime, you may also suffer from serious sleeping problems sooner or later and this may lead to all sorts of health problems in the long run and you will also be in a rather poor mood in general due to a lack of sleep.

Not the best job if you want to have a family

Since you will have a hard time providing for your loved ones and will also have to work rather exotic hours, aspiring to a career in fast food may also not make much sense in case you want to have a family and want to see your kids grow up.

You have a rather hard time in the dating market

Since you don’t make great money and also have pretty poor job security, you may also have a much harder time in the dating market as a fast food worker compared to dentists and other people who will often have a much easier time in this regard.

Fast food workers have a pretty low social status

You should also know that fast food workers have a pretty low social standing and many people out there will belittle your work and you will never have the same high reputation as people working as nurse practitioners or in other fields where you can really save lives.

Working in fast food can be physically demanding

Another problem with working in fast food is that it can be physically demanding and if you are not in good physical condition and have a low fitness level, you may struggle to keep up with your tasks pretty soon.

Fast food workers have pretty poor exit options

You should also keep in mind that you will have pretty poor exit options as a fast food worker and in case you don’t want to work in this industry anymore, you will have a hard time finding a decent job in a different field since you will just not learn many skills needed in the job market.

Hard to make a positive social impact as a fast food worker

While you can make many people happy, you will still not have the same high positive social impact as teachers or other people who can really make an impact on the lives of many people on a daily basis.

Working conditions are often pretty poor

You should also know that you will often have to work under pretty poor conditions and many fast food workers are not happy about how they are treated at work and secretly wish to do something else.

You have to work in a hot environment with bad air quality

You will also have to work in a pretty hot environment where air quality is rather poor and this can be quite demanding for your body, especially if you work in the kitchen where it is often hard to breathe fresh air and you may therefore get exhausted rather quickly.

Limited promotion opportunities for fast food workers

As a fast food worker, it can take many years or even decades before you get promoted and overall promotion opportunities will be rather limited in general.

Hence, while your friends may climb the corporate ladder rather quickly, you may get pretty frustrated with your position in a fast food chain in the long run.

Top 10 Working in Fast Food Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Work In A Fast Food Restaurant?

While it can make sense to work in a fast food restaurant if you need additional money besides your day job, it is hard to make a living by working in a fast food restaurant, working conditions are pretty poor, stress levels are high and promotion opportunities are rather limited.

In the end, it is on you to evaluate all the pros and cons of working in a fast food restaurant so that you can better decide whether you still want to work in a fast food restaurant or rather want to go for a job in a different field.

If you come to the conclusion that a fast food restaurant career is not for you, you may also want to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a baker

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a school bus driver

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming an accountant

Sources

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1180053/number-of-fast-food-restaurants-industry-employees-us/

Own research and interviews.

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world.

In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of what a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics.

However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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