I have actually done construction like work, and I have been a delivery driver (not bus driver though). Those don't even compare relative to the stress of a high paced kitchen. And yeah, when a tech stack goes down, that is stressful for sure, but again, that happens like once in a blue moon and lasts a short amount of time. I've have never had a 60 hour emergency work week in tech lol. This was every single week in the high end restaurant industry, for no pay on top of that.
I didn't even include the stressors involved in wondering if your pay was even going to cover your bills for the month, or stressing if the restaurant was just going to close its doors on you overnight. Never heard of a tech or construction company doing that, it happens all the time in restaurants. And I was specifically talking about my time in actual restaurants, not fast food chains or fast casual. I can't speak to them. I am talking white chef coat, table cloth with reservations type of restaurants.
I'm not arguing that tech work can't be stressful or hard (or any other job), from a skill level the tech work is much more difficult. But you asked if a the high stress stereotypes are true, and as someone that has worked in around dozen different industries over the years, restaurant work is far and away the most stressful of the bunch, it's not even remotely close. Not arguing that it should be that way, but it certainly is.
Again, most of this just sounds like it is typical for a bad job. Not most/all jobs, agreed; but nothing unique to food industry. You can say that it is a physically hot environment, but it probably isn't any worse than most agriculture jobs, all told.
Similarly, worrying if your pay will cover bills is not at all unique to the industry. Having lived on bounced checks for a time, I agree that sucks. I've also known friends who had their paycheck bounce. An absurd amount of stress that makes zero sense.
So, my pushback here isn't that I think you are wrong. My pushback is I see no reason it has to be true. Basically, your last point. There is nothing intrinsic here that dictates this is a high stress job. Certainly the stakes are lower than something like an ER. The folks I've known that work ER complain less about the stress of their job than folks I have known that did food service, though; and that just doesn't make sense.
I didn't even include the stressors involved in wondering if your pay was even going to cover your bills for the month, or stressing if the restaurant was just going to close its doors on you overnight. Never heard of a tech or construction company doing that, it happens all the time in restaurants. And I was specifically talking about my time in actual restaurants, not fast food chains or fast casual. I can't speak to them. I am talking white chef coat, table cloth with reservations type of restaurants.
I'm not arguing that tech work can't be stressful or hard (or any other job), from a skill level the tech work is much more difficult. But you asked if a the high stress stereotypes are true, and as someone that has worked in around dozen different industries over the years, restaurant work is far and away the most stressful of the bunch, it's not even remotely close. Not arguing that it should be that way, but it certainly is.