McDonald’s to the rescue… Really?
Apr
19
Written by:
4/19/2011 10:37 AM
McDonald’s announced in early April that they would be adding 50,000 jobs in a one-day hiring extravaganza. They will also be using this hiring spree to fight the negative connotation of the term “McJob”. The 50,000 new employees will fill job openings from restaurant crew to managers and will increase the company’s workforce by over 7%.
The term “McJob" was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2003 and has remained there despite the company's protests. Personally, I hadn’t heard of the term before, and I don’t know if I would have made the leap from “McJob” to low-wage. I did a little research to see if the “McJob” deserves its bad reputation? Some say no. In order to stay competitive with its biggest hiring adversary, Starbucks, McDonald’s offers flexible schedules, competitive wages, free meals and depending on the franchise owner, health insurance, prescription drug coverage, educational assistance and more. Taking it a step further, in 2005 McDonald's sought to boost the image of its restaurant jobs in ads featuring singer Macy Gray and track-and-field Olympian Carl Lewis, both of whom worked at McDonald's. Was the campaign to change its image successful? Apparently not if McDonald’s is still working to change the general perspective during this hiring boom.
Illinois-based McDonald's said in a statement that the hiring event is an opportunity to highlight that "a McJob is one with career growth and endless possibilities." Many of McDonald's top executives and franchisees worked their way up the company ranks, such as Jan Fields, president of McDonald's U.S.A. who started as a crew member behind the counter in 1978. Per an article by Emily Bryson York of the Chicago Tribune, half of the owner-operators of the chain's franchises started as restaurant employees, as did 40 percent of McDonald's corporate staff and 30 percent of its senior management, including CEO Jim Skinner. As a small business owner, this seems like a great way to get your feet wet to see if owning a McDonald’s franchise is right for you.
On that note, over 90% of the almost 14,000 McDonald’s are franchises, owned by small and medium sized business owners. The rate of individuals buying into the franchise system has risen since 2007 as laid off professionals explore new career paths and start down the road of owning their own business. Some see the hiring spree as a sign that the economy is back on track and slowly easing out of the recession. Certainly, adding 50,000 jobs in one month is nothing to be laughed at. The true judge will be the impact of this hiring on the job reports that come out at the beginning of each month when we find out if McDonald’s is really coming to the rescue.