Marshmallow towers and Lady Gaga: Bizarre hiring tests for UK minimum-wage jobs

Young job seekers in the United Kingdom are facing increasingly complex and time-consuming recruitment processes for minimum-wage positions, with some applicants forced to perform unconventional tasks to secure entry-level work.

Candidates for the chicken chain Wingstop reported being asked to build towers using only spaghetti and marshmallows. In another instance, a group interview for Zara’s parent company, Inditex, required applicants to design outfits for celebrities and compete against each other to answer questions.

The trend arrives as unemployment for 18-to-24-year-olds in the U.K. has climbed to 14%, the highest level in five years.

Experts say employers are implementing stricter screening to "minimize risk" as they face rising costs for the minimum wage and insurance. However, the rigorous hurdles have created a significant burden for applicants who feel the effort required is disproportionate to the pay and the nature of the roles.

The rise of unconventional recruitment tactics is more than just corporate eccentricity; it is a primary symptom of a profound power imbalance currently defining the labor market. With youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, the leverage has shifted decisively in favor of employers. This surplus of labor allows firms to mandate increasingly complex, and often arbitrary, vetting processes, confident that a deep pool of desperate applicants will comply.

While exercises such as "marshmallow tower" group tasks are ostensibly framed as assessments of communication and teamwork, their empirical validity remains questionable. There is little evidence to suggest that success in abstract, gamified challenges accurately predicts the technical performance of a sales representative or the operational efficiency of kitchen staff. For corporations, these group interviews serve as high-volume, low-cost screening mechanisms to filter dozens of candidates simultaneously. For the job seeker, however, the process is a high-stress, time-intensive ordeal—essentially a "survival game" played for the prize of a low-wage position.

Ultimately, this trend underscores a sobering reality for the emerging workforce. In a tightening economic environment, the path to entry-level employment is increasingly defined by precariousness, as young professionals are forced to navigate systemic hurdles that prioritize corporate cost-cutting over meaningful talent evaluation.

While the story is set in the UK, the ordeal of navigating endless and often nonsensical interview rounds is a reality that hits close to home for many young Vietnamese Americans. As this generation moves beyond the traditional family businesses of Little Saigon—the phở restaurants and nail salons that built the community—they face a hyper-competitive corporate landscape where the pressure to succeed is compounded by the high stakes of professional growth and the complexities of the modern job market.