By
Tolu Ajiboye
June 14th, 2023
Amidst backlash from workers, McDonald’s plans to hire 260,000 new workers with an emphatic promise of adequate measures to protect workers. MCD stock was down yesterday.
As the government is striving hard to create policies and strategies that will create jobs for Americans who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, private firms are consolidating the feds’ effort. As the economy reopens, companies are hiring new staff as old ones return to work, all in a bid to upturn the low plummeted employment rate. McDonald’s Corp (NYSE: MCD), America’s foremost fast food company is the latest of homegrown companies to announce its intentions to add 260,000 jobs. However, McDonald’s stock hasn’t reacted significantly.
The company which had most of its dining rooms closed during the pandemic is set to return workers back to service with improved safety measures. The market analysts believe this decision will shoot up McDonald’s Corp stock that is currently at $190, up 0.27% in the pre-market on Friday. Yesterday, MCD closed at $189.49 (-0.68).
Brief History of McDonald’s
McDonald’s was founded in 1940 as a fast-food restaurant by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. The company found its way into the heart of Americans with its unique service and products. It became a franchise with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. A very ambitious and ingenious franchise agent, Ray Croc purchased the business from the McDonald brothers and turned the company into the world’s largest restaurant by revenue serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries across 37,855 outlets as of 2018.
McDonald’s During the Pandemic
McDonald’s came under harsh criticism in the way it responded to the pandemic with respect to workers’ welfare. Some of the complaints came from workers that are of color and as recounted by Yamile Osoy, an employee of McDonald’s Oakland, she said:
“At my store in Oakland, where the frontline employees are Latino and Black, we didn’t have the option to take paid sick days. Our managers forced us to come into work sick, which resulted in us working in close proximity to co-workers who were sick. One of my co-workers, who was pregnant, was told to cancel a doctor’s appointment in order to come into work.”
The company has made it known that it stands against inequality and injustice, the event described by Yamile has led to a lawsuit against the company.
They were one of us:
Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. Alton Sterling. Botham Jean. Atatiana Jefferson. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/s1UhP5vncv
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) June 3, 2020
Other similar concerns have been raised by a few of McDonald’s employees spiking an urgent need to act to allay the public fear about the company’s misplaced priorities
McDonald’s Corp noted in the hiring press release that it has implemented nearly 50 new safety procedures to protect employees and customers. For a brand with such a public image as McDonald’s, the promise of new jobs may just be the first step in winning their customers’ love back. Either way, the company’s stock is projected to see steady growth in the coming weeks.