Research reveals an alarming new trend in workplace gender

A new workplace gender trend has exploded, and for once, it’s not about women being paid less.

Twice as many young women as men are quitting their jobs because of abuse from customers, alarming new research from digital youth engagement platform Year13 has found.

Women are also more likely to leave work due to stress.

“It’s shocking to see one in eight teenage girls and young women report they’ve left their job because of customer abuse,” Year13 co-founder Saxon Phipps told news.com.au.

“It’s an important reminder to be on the lookout for new workers this summer, many of whom are inexperienced and don’t easily forget these abuse cases they suffer,” Phipps said.

While almost 75 percent of respondents said they took their first casual job so they could be financially independent, almost one in five said it was to help their family with living expenses.

Two in five young Austrians got a job in a large supermarket or fast food chain, while 36 percent said their first paid gig was in a cafe or pub.

But it’s these customer-facing roles that are leaving young workers exposed to threats and abuse.

Coffs Harbor native Maddy, 19, said she recently quit her job at a coffee shop chain because she was fed up with the treatment she received.

“Customers would get very upset about the cost of our products, they wouldn’t even look at me or speak directly to me when I was taking their order and I was subjected to verbal abuse and belittling behavior,” she said.

“This job gave me a lot of experience with people, but the stress and anxiety it caused every day was certainly something I would never want to experience again.”

Brisbane woman Zarah told Year13 she regularly faced abuse from customers while working in retail.

“It’s like they (customers) think because we look young we’re easy to manipulate and bully,” she said. “But comparing 18+ women and men, I don’t think I’ve ever heard or seen older guys being harassed, it seemed like all the customers respected them.

“So it was definitely more female-oriented. But for the under 18s, unfortunately, it was pretty even. It’s like the younger the person, the meaner they are for some reason.”

It’s not just abuse forcing young women to leave, with Vonnie, 21, telling news.com.au she has left many jobs for various reasons, including “poor communication” and travel.

“I worked as a disability assistant. The commute was too far for a job that wasn’t that rewarding,” said the Melbourne woman.

“I worked with a company that was very poor with communication and was unable to accommodate what I was looking for,” she said.

“I also had several jobs where turnover was so high and fast that within a few months I became a supervisor because the environment was very toxic.”

She is now working as a barista in a cafe and is much happier.

Ellie Kate, 22, revealed to news.com.au in May that she was quitting her recruitment job because she was done with the stress.

“I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I put a lot of pressure on myself,” she said.

Miss Kate even ran the business, but she found she spent a lot of time thinking about work and trying to find ways to make more money.

To relieve stress, she is now also working as a barista.

“I can go home, I’ve made my money for the day and so I can do other fun things… and I don’t feel guilty about it,” she said.

Similarly, Kelsie Grace was climbing the corporate ladder when she decided to take the plunge and spend all her savings on opening a bar.

The 25-year-old had worked in marketing for five years and even moved to Melbourne to pursue her career, but after returning from holiday she realized she needed a change because she was “burnt out”.

“I think for everyone in corporate jobs there’s always this thing you’d rather be doing,” she told news.com.au.

Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder said she has seen women quit at a “higher rate” than men and believes this stems from women lacking confidence.

“Men are better at running it,” said Ms Calder.

She said women are more likely to resist negative feedback, struggle to regain confidence after mistakes and are less likely to apply for jobs in the first place because they don’t feel qualified.

She said that while men will see a job advert and think ‘I can do most of that’, and therefore give it a crack, women won’t even apply.

“Women will say they’re not sure they can do it,” she said.