Teacher Who Became A Walmart Manager Says He Earns $20K More 'Not Using Degree'

An Ohio man stopped teaching to make over $20,000 a year more at Walmart, he asserted in a video that went viral this week.

Sethy Gabriel stated in a Monday TikTok video that he was quitting teaching after six years to become a manager at Walmart and earn more without using his degree.

More than 780,000 people have seen his video.

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Gabriel said in the comments section that he "loved teaching" but quit due to the pay. In Ohio, he claimed to have earned $43,000 annually as a teacher, compared to, depending on bonuses, $65,000 to $70,000 as a Walmart Coach.

According to Gabriel, he could make over $100,000 once he attained the position of manager.

The former educator, who for the past six years taught second and first grade, coached football and track, and taught summer school, claimed that his 45-hour work week at Walmart was insignificant compared to the time he dedicated to his profession as a teacher.

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"I don't know if you know about those long teacher hours of lesson planning, grading, report cards, after-school events...if you're a coach it's even worse," he told viewers in a follow-up video. "I remember weeks where I probably put in 60 hours."

According to the Merrimack College Teacher Survey, this year's level of work satisfaction among teachers was at an all-time low. The majority of participants reported feeling overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Only 12 percent, down from 39 percent in 2012, indicated they were very satisfied with their jobs. More than half of respondents indicated they probably wouldn't suggest to their younger selves to become teachers.

According to the National Education Association, the average teacher salary for the 2021–22 school year was $66,397, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year. Rising inflation, however, has surpassed salaries. Teachers now make $2,179 less than they did ten years ago after accounting for inflation.

States including New Mexico, Florida, and Mississippi have pledged wage increases to make teaching jobs more competitive as schools battle with teacher shortages and anxiety over school shootings. Some of those raises, meanwhile, haven't happened yet.

The Florida Department of Education stated in February that teachers in 31 counties in the state were still awaiting the $47,500 compensation minimums that had been promised two years earlier.

According to the comments on his video, Gabriel is by no means the only teacher to quit teaching in favor of working in retail.

"I did the same," wrote one viewer. "I love teaching and miss my students but left to be [operations] manager for more than double my teaching pay."

Another commented, "I was going to school to be a teacher, been at Walmart 5 years and make more than I would with some degrees."

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