McDonald's in partnership to hire more older workers
McDonald’s is targeting the fastest-growing segment of the workforce through a first-of-its-kind collaboration in the quick-service restaurant industry.
The fast-food giant is teaming up with AARP and AARP Foundation to help it connect with the growing, yet underutilized workforce of older Americans. The partnership comes as McDonald’s and its independent franchisees gear up to hire roughly 250,000 people for the summer months amid an extremely tight labor market.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has named the 55-and-older population as the fastest-growing segment of the workforce, projecting that 41 million older Americans will represent 24.8% of the civilian workforce by 2024. The shift is occurring due to two powerful trends: a labor shortage amid the tightest U.S. labor market in nearly 50 years, and the tendency for longer-living Americans to keep working – even part-time – to supplement insufficient retirement savings.
As part of the collaboration, McDonald’s current U.S. restaurant job postings will be featured on AARP’s job board, which only includes employers who are committed to an age-diverse workforce and looking for experienced talent. Job seekers can visit the group’s job board to learn more and apply to a restaurant near them.
In addition, McDonald’s will pilot a program to align employer and candidate job needs and interests by leveraging AARP Foundation’s Senior Community Service Employment Program and Back to Work 50+ workforce development programs. The program will help McDonald’s and its independent franchisees who opt in hire a multi-generational workforce for their restaurants allowing older Americans access to the educational and career benefits available to McDonald’s employees as they re-enter the workforce. The pilot will start in five states — Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina — before rolling out nationwide later this summer.
“Together with our franchisees we have a responsibility to each generation to provide opportunity, flexibility, and resources for wherever they are on their career journey,” said Melissa Kersey, McDonald’s U.S. chief people officer. “Thanks, in part, to our new collaboration with AARP and AARP Foundation we’re looking to position McDonald’s as a place where people at every stage of working life can see themselves grow and thrive while bringing stability and a different perspective that everyone can learn from.”
The fast-food giant is teaming up with AARP and AARP Foundation to help it connect with the growing, yet underutilized workforce of older Americans. The partnership comes as McDonald’s and its independent franchisees gear up to hire roughly 250,000 people for the summer months amid an extremely tight labor market.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has named the 55-and-older population as the fastest-growing segment of the workforce, projecting that 41 million older Americans will represent 24.8% of the civilian workforce by 2024. The shift is occurring due to two powerful trends: a labor shortage amid the tightest U.S. labor market in nearly 50 years, and the tendency for longer-living Americans to keep working – even part-time – to supplement insufficient retirement savings.
As part of the collaboration, McDonald’s current U.S. restaurant job postings will be featured on AARP’s job board, which only includes employers who are committed to an age-diverse workforce and looking for experienced talent. Job seekers can visit the group’s job board to learn more and apply to a restaurant near them.
In addition, McDonald’s will pilot a program to align employer and candidate job needs and interests by leveraging AARP Foundation’s Senior Community Service Employment Program and Back to Work 50+ workforce development programs. The program will help McDonald’s and its independent franchisees who opt in hire a multi-generational workforce for their restaurants allowing older Americans access to the educational and career benefits available to McDonald’s employees as they re-enter the workforce. The pilot will start in five states — Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina — before rolling out nationwide later this summer.
“Together with our franchisees we have a responsibility to each generation to provide opportunity, flexibility, and resources for wherever they are on their career journey,” said Melissa Kersey, McDonald’s U.S. chief people officer. “Thanks, in part, to our new collaboration with AARP and AARP Foundation we’re looking to position McDonald’s as a place where people at every stage of working life can see themselves grow and thrive while bringing stability and a different perspective that everyone can learn from.”