Video source: YouTube, News4JAX
Franchisees of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD ) across the US plan to roll out several new benefits in a bid to help keep current workers and attract new ones amid the tight labor market.
According to The Wall Street Journal, franchisee-operated restaurants — which account for 95% of McDonald’s nearly 14,000 US locations — will offer backup childcare, higher hourly wages, paid time off and tuition payments.
McDonald’s said its plan was based upon feedback from over 5,000 crew members, managers and owners and that it believes the added perks will help it stay competitive when it comes to hiring employees, the newspaper reported on Tuesday.
In May, the Chicago-based fast-food giant announced it will increase hourly wages by 10% over the next few months for the 36,500 workers at its 650 company-owned US restaurants. It also said it was encouraging its franchisees to follow the company’s lead and boost wages.
McDonald’s is the latest chain to kick up efforts to recruit and retain employees amid an ongoing workforce shortage that is affecting numerous industries.
Wage hikes, retention bonuses, referral bonuses and health benefits are just a few of the incentives companies have unveiled in recent months.
It remains to be seen if the enhanced benefits will win over workers.
A recent survey by Joblist found that 38% of former hospitality workers have no interest in returning to work at a restaurant or bar. More than 50% said pay increases or other incentives are not enough to lure them back, and that they are seeking work in other industries.
In June, bars and restaurants added more than 190,000 jobs, but the industry is still about 13.7% below its pre-pandemic payroll count of 14.7 million employees.
Among all listed industries, food services has one of the highest employee separation totals, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
In May, 882,000 restaurant workers left their jobs, after 913,000 people called it quits in April.
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Source: Equities News
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