McDonald's held its first National Hiring Day on Tuesday, a "super-sized" HR (and PR) campaign meant to add as many as 50,000 people to the fast food giant's payroll — and change the stigma associated with flipping burgers. McDonald's, which employs 1.7 million workers worldwide, emphasizes that 30 percent of its executives started out working lower-level jobs in its restaurants. Sure, unemployment is still high — but does the economy really need more McJobs?
Yes, the recession killed those jobs, too: People without college degrees fared worse than those with diplomas during the recession, says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times. The unemployment rate for people with no high-school diploma was 13.7 percent last month — and 9.5 percent for people with just a high-school diploma — compared with the overall national average of 8.8 percent. These low-level jobs can make a big difference to a lot of people.
"Job hopefuls bite on McDonald's hiring day opportunity"
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This could be a stimulus... for McDonald's: The hiring frenzy sure drew a lot of people to the restaurants, says Annie Gasparro at The Wall Street Journal, and that could boost sales, even if just temporarily. "After all, who can turn down a Big Mac once already inside Mickey D’s?"
"McDonald's plan to hire 50K workers: Long lines for Big Macs?"