By STEPHANIE STEINER-OTOO, MATTHEW BUCHICCHIO, and ANDREW ABATE
Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. young people have been forced to navigate changes of adulthood during a time of crisis. Dating, getting married and finding jobs once rites of passage, are now harder to attain in the time of a pandemic. Working from home, supporting their families financially, and struggling to become independent in quarantine during this pandemic is the norm.
There are many changes for young people to consider as they advance in their career fields and build their own lives. Many are left questioning what will be the new normal becoming an adult?
As the class of 2021 plan to graduate, they face a workforce in transition, a social scene that is still restricted, and a lifestyle dependent on beating Covid-19.
COVID-19 has been affecting the future of the workplace, and it might be normal to see most people stay home to work and work shorter hours. “Now, 71% of those workers are doing their job from home all or most of the time. And more than half say, given a choice, they would want to keep working from home even after the pandemic, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.”
Along with the changes within the corporate workforce, many graduates now wonder how Covid-19 will affect the future of socializing, getting married, and celebrating. The catering industry has seen these changes first-hand. These activities involve larger gatherings that are not currently allowed in most states.
Are Former Rites-Of-Passage Shifting or Disappearing Altogether?
In most parts of the United States, it is considered ‘normal’ for young college-aged teenagers and young adults to come into their own and begin to navigate their lives independently. The pandemic has changed all of that. Making new friends, socializing with peers, dating, and finding a job is now a rigid task for young people. If they are able to socialize, it has to be done outside or far apart and many restaurants, museums, bars, and gyms still remain closed.
Dating has almost completely shifted online along with school and work. All of this isolation is tough on an age group that relies heavily on friendship and outings for fun and sanity. With layoffs and limited working positions, the future of entry-level jobs can seem dismal as well.
Some of these young citizens are essential workers and others have been able to work internships from home. The pandemic has changed family dynamics as some students and recent college graduates have had to support their families financially. It is a struggle to become independent during this pandemic. This situation has left young people wondering if any sense of normalcy will come back in the coming years.
@lperelli?How to pretend you don’t hate your life while being unemployed in NYC? #ProblemSolved #nyc #nyclife #fyp? Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod
In this TikTok by the user, @lperelli, a young woman shows a day in the life of her and a roommate as unemployed residents in New York City. She videotapes herself with a friend wandering about the city with not many places to go.
Although outdoor dining is available at some restaurants, locations to enjoy social life are limited. In some instances, people can dine inside a restaurant but only with social distancing. In the video, @lperelli mentioned many times that she was running out of money.
This is the reality of young people who are trying to gather, socialize, work, and earn a living in a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to do that (safely). There are many other young people across the nation who face a similar situation.
How gatherings are still possible right now
Jaime Buchicchio, 56, is a former banquet captain at The Grand Hyatt in New York. He was laid off due to Covid-19 in June 2020.
The current state of the hospitality industry is in disarray since the pandemic hit. While few have been designated as essential workers, others have been asked to leave work temporarily or permanently.
“It’s awful, my hotel has been running for over 60 years straight with no interruptions,” says Buchicchio. “During swine flu and bird flu, we were still packing parties to capacity. Even after September 11th when it seemed that all tourism and parties in the city stopped, that only lasted a month, maybe two, but nothing compared to this.
“It’s not just my hotel, the Waldorf, the Hilton, all being forced to close with hundreds of people like me out of a job. It’s as good as dead right now,” he added.
“I have no clue how things are going to be ten years from now, but I think the wedding industry is going to take a major turn.” ~ Jaime Buchicchio
Right now the future of the hospitality industry and substantial events like weddings is completely up in the air.
“It’s not going to be easy to get things back to the way they were before all this, it’s been over a year at this point. The entire way weddings and other parties have to be set up needs to be completely different from the way we set everything up, to the [number] of people we are allowed to have in one room, even the food we serve, in a way, “Buchicchio says.
“Even after everything with this virus is over, people are going to be wary about things for at least the next decade, if not forever,” he added.
Buchicchio explains that the cost of large gatherings might increase due to the new precautions.
“Everyone will have to be more cautious about other people’s health in a big way, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s going to make industries like mine become a lot more complicated and expensive,” he says.
Whether changes like frequent hand sanitation, Covid testing, social distancing, low gathering numbers, and masks, will be permanent for the next decade is also a weighted question.
“I have no clue how things are going to be ten years from now, but I think the wedding industry is going to take a major turn,” says Buchicchio. “I think people are going to start to turn away from big fancy weddings with hundreds of people after this.”
The former banquet captain hopes to see the industry persevere albeit the highly anticipated adjustments. “The industry has been set up for those parties for decades now, the wedding industry, as well as every other party and banquet industry, is going to need to evolve to stay relevant in the post-Covid world.”
The Future of the Work Force
The “Economic Policy Institute” highlights the biggest struggles that college students and recent graduates are facing in the workforce and what the government could be doing to support them.
Due to the shift in the workforce from in the office to at home, the future of the corporate world is likely to continue changing. In the next decade, it may be more common to see employees working from home with a shorter work week and shorter work hours.
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I liked this story. As a young person, this topic has definitely been on my mind. I thought it was an interesting idea to interview a caterer, this way we can see both how the work force and socializing has changed through one source. I also liked the TikTok you chose to include, it captured the sort of “aimlessness” this generation is going through regarding the pandemic. I had some trouble accessing the video, I’m not sure if that’s your end or mine. Also, is that an audio clip at the end there? If so I can’t access it, but I think some audio is just what this piece needs. Good work.