We see this the same way.
I credit Thomas Sowell for helping me understand the issue of gateway jobs in an educational and engaging way in his book “Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to The Economy”
Gateway jobs are not meant to be held on forever. They are meant as a gateway to advancing your abilities and career. They were never meant to provide someone with a “Living Wage” (a term I despise)
They were meant to be a stepping stone. But liberals want people to stay in those jobs.
I guess our “Friend’ hasn't had that “experience”.
What does “living wage” mean?
I've worked more than 1 job at a time in my lifetime to earn what i thought was a “living wage” for me and my family.
I would imaging most of us had to, at one point in our lives, or at least “job” and “school”.
A few jobs I forgot to mention in earlier post, selling Christmas trees, flipping burgers, deck hand on a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico. None of which were career paths but I learned something value able from them all.