Detroit Free Press: In today's tough employment market, one company has become the go-to option for the frustrated job seeker: Starbucks. That's a problem for McDonald's as it seeks to beef up its workforce for what's expected to be another year of sales growth.
To nab the attention of top-flight candidates, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based burger giant is tackling the image of a "McJob." That means a weeks-long advertising and public-relations campaign leading up to April 19, when McDonald's plans to hire 50,000 store-level employees.
McDonald's hopes to get across the message, much as Starbucks has successfully done, that a job with it is not a dead end and can offer solid benefits and long-term career opportunities, which the company says already are available to its 600,000 restaurant employees in the U.S.
Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a Chicago-based restaurant industry consultancy, described the redefining of a McJob as a tall order.
While Paul said the chain "has a great story to tell" of the benefits it offers that many competitors don't and the opportunities to move into management, "they still don't have the image of a Starbucks."
"McDonald's is considered to be a fast-food restaurant. It's going to be tough for them to differentiate themselves from the other fast-food restaurants," he said, adding that smaller chains, including Chick-fil-A and Panda Express, have been building credibility with young people in recent years as good places to work because of their benefits.
Jan Fields, president of McDonald's USA, says her story and those of other senior managers will help recast the image of the company's entry-level jobs. Senior managers will appear at McDonald's restaurants to talk about their careers, and the company will promote the hiring event in a national newspaper and radio advertising campaign.
"I have a McJob," said Fields, who started her career behind the counter in 1977. "And I'm darned proud of it."
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