I’m a barista and 2 drinks cost more than my hourly wage

Inflation has caused the cost of living to rise, from groceries to dining out, and yes, that includes your daily latte.

One barista is using the rising price of a cup of joe to illustrate workers’ low wages.

In a TikTok video, user @rykohio claims that two beverages he says he can make in “two minutes” can cost more than he makes in one hour.

“It is so f–ked up that, as a barista, someone can come up and order two drinks that cost more than what I make in an hour,” he says in the video, which has been viewed over 1.1 million times. “Two drinks that I can make in two minutes. And I make less than that in one hour.”

The user clarified in a comment he doesn’t work for Starbucks, saying the wage problem is “bigger than Starbucks.”

The video sparked a debate about minimum wage. According to PayScale, the median hourly pay for a barista is $11.27. The national average cost for a cappuccino is now $4.36, according to data obtained by Clever in March.

Users agreed and flooded the comments, sharing their own experiences of working a minimum wage job where customers’ orders cost more than what they earn, while others didn’t realize the pay was that low.

“I hate thinking of things like that. like ‘oh that’s $30? that’s two whole hours of work,’” one user admitted.

“Also Starbucks raised their prices twice, and still haven’t raised their wages,” another wrote. “Two custom drinks can cost $20, and that’s more than my weekly tips.”

“When I worked at Sbux they used to tell us we could remake a drink 10 times before losing money. So a $5 drink costs them [50 cents] to make,” shared another.

“But you make up for it in tips,” one user wrote mockingly in response.

“No because literally, all industries at this point are like this,” a follower wrote. “Why am I getting paid $15 an hour to clean hotel rooms that cost $300-$400 a night?”

This is hardly the first barista tell-all, with many taking to social media to share secrets, truths and hacks from behind the scenes on the job. One called her profession the “sluttiest” job, referring to the flirting needed to get tips, while another recently blasted “whining” co-workers.