Friends who say they "easy" jobs

[sheworkshardforthemoney]

3 separate friends have said to me this week that they want b and m/ supermarket jobs.

I have never worked in retail but do work as (low paid) manager in a position to hire staff at minimum wage positions (skills needed)

AIBU to think these friends are disrespectful to think that they could easily do these jobs/ be hired?

I think tbh they were just saying it in a half hearted way. But I've heard it before from friends with careers in management/ finance/ HR.
They think minimum wage jobs are easy work/ easy to get and stress free!

If they applied for a vacancy with me they wouldn't get hired! I look for CV's with job history where I know they've had to 'graft' turn in everyday and perform. It's bloody hard work!!

Stick to your office jobs! Minimum wage=maximum effort! Worked to the bone! No spare minutes in the day! True for my site anyway!

I'm slightly out of date as I haven't worked in retail since I was a student but I did find it easy in many respects.It was easy to get hired. I knew exactly what I had to do every day, I didn't take any stress home, I didn't have to think on my feet, I had reasonably set hours. In other respects it wasn't easy - rude customers (it didn't bother me for a few months as a summer job because I knew I'd be gone soon enough but it could be grinding if it was my life full time), lots of time on my feet (which I didn't mind as a young person but if you're in your sixties or older or have health issues might be draining), it was also just bloody boring day in day out.

It might be very different now if you're on a zero hour contract or work in an amazon warehouse though so I wouldn't run my mouth off about how easy their lives are!

I dont think you can compare office job vs retail as there are such a range of jobs in office (and probably in retail). My most stressful jobs have definitely been office jobs at management level but some retail is just soul destroying in dealing with customers, no autonomy, boring sometimes on quiet days. You can get easy, no responsibility office jobs though which probably are easiest.

The number of times I have said to DH that if it paid the same I would go back to any of the minimum wage jobs I have had in an instant is... well, quite a lot. I love my current job but the mental and emotional toll is incomparable. The consequences of us fucking up here could be deaths, that's before you start thinking about the loss of professional registration etc. What were the worst possible consequences of a fuck up when I was stacking shelves, doing tills, serving meals or drinks, packing frozen food?

@MrsToothyBitch
That pretty much sums up my experiences in retail management.
I got made redundant recently, some well meaning clueless friend suggested I go back into retail. I actually burst into tears at the thought of it.
People have no idea and think we are all just a little bit too thick to make it in another career.
The disdain for retail workers is disgusting.

I think people look at pressure in varying forms. High levels of responsibility are one example. If you are in charge of making life or death decisions for people you could argue that is significantly more stressful than working on a till in a shop. However, that sort of work can be draining in other ways. It depends on your definition of 'easy' and what sort of things stress you out personally. Some people thrive in high pressure situations and get bored easily, others can't cope with face to face interactions and complaints. Totally a personal thing.