Cal State LA student workers are back on campus and trying to navigate their shorter and much less busier than normal shifts. 

Pedro Gutierrez, a Los Angeles Film School graduate, has been working at the Cal State LA bookstore since the 2021 fall semester. 

“We have been getting less hours, and we have been closing early, unlike last year where there were more rushes,” said Gutierrez. “I prefer having more hours because it made us stay busy with the rushes.”

Many businesses on campus were busier when classes were in-person, and it allowed for more workers to be scheduled.  

“It was busier last semester since there were five or six people working at the same time, and now it’s only two workers called in for work,” said Christine Chang, an English major who works at Juice It Up.

“The winter session was a lot busier because there is a high school next to us, and kids will come here to grab food and hang out,” she said. 

Although there are less hours and fewer customers now, Chang still enjoys working at Juice It Up because “it’s an easy job that’s convenient for me since I dorm here.”

Saisha Smith is an urban planning major who works at the Cal State LA Starbucks. She started work on Jan. 7 when she got called in for the winter intersession.

Smith and other workers are only scheduled for four-hour shifts. However, they still make the best of it. 

“I left my old job because of the environment, but I like the people here,” Smith said. “They are always so helpful, and they really try to push you to do better.”

Cal State LA dining services are currently closing between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m due to classes being online the first three weeks of the semester. However, since fewer students are scheduled to work, Starbucks and other on-campus dining services are not understaffed.  

“We’re a bit overstaffed, so we needed to separate the hours from here, and we all work good as a team,” said Smith.