McDonald's Is Offering These Impressive New Benefits To Attract Employees

A funny thing happened on the way to post-pandemic recovery... somewhere along the line, the job market switched from being an employer's one to one that overwhelmingly favored the job seeker. As to why there are more jobs than people to fill them, some have speculated that generous unemployment benefits have made it more profitable for people to stay home than to take positions on the lower end of the pay scale. NBC News also notes that there may be lingering concerns about health risks, as well as the fact that, when so many were given the option to work from home during quarantine, a narrative that seemingly involved plenty of free time to bake sourdough bread and have on-the-clock happy hours... Well, everyone else wanted in on this, too.

Fast food restaurants, in particular, have been having a hard time finding new employees to flip burgers and staff drive-thrus. McDonald's, long renowned as that infamous first job that everyone cannot wait to put behind them, has had certain franchisees resorting to drastic acts such as offering people free food and even money just to come in for an interview. While such acts will entice the hungry and the desperate, they won't do much to attract and retain long-term employees or even ones that stick around for more than a few shifts. According to Forbes, McDonald's is finally doing something to address the employee shortage on a corporate level by beefing up their benefits.

McDonald's proposed benefits, as Forbes reveals, begin with a pay boost. Starting hourly wages will range from $11 to $17, while shift managers will be earning between $15 and $20. Hourly workers may also get some paid time off, a perk usually reserved for salaried employees in most jobs. They could also see some tuition reimbursement (and not just for classes at Hamburger U), and McDonalds' could even begin providing emergency childcare, something that would be a real boon to any single parent employees. (As NBC News points out, childcare concerns could also be a contributing factor to the current labor shortage, as COVID precautions did a real number on pre-existing childcare arrangements.)

If you're just about sold on the idea of a new career in a Mickey D's uniform (their newer black and gray ones actually don't look too bad), don't get too excited just yet. Fox 28 points out that McDonald's has yet to set a start date for the benefits to kick in, and they also indicate that not every McDonald's franchise is necessarily going to be on board with the new plan. As nearly all of McDonald's 13,450 U.S. locations are franchise-owned, it's best to ask about the proposed benefits before you commit to working for any particular restaurant.