A new McDonald’s Corp. commercial tells the story of Karen King, who began her career as a teenage crew member in the 1970s and rose to head the company’s $10-billion Eastern-U.S. division.
The spots are meant to resonate with American teenagers, who are leaving the workforce in droves — and leaving McDonald’s with a labor crunch that threatens to take a bite out of its surging sales.
“It’s a shrinking labor market, and we recognize less people will be available to hire,” Ms. King says.
The declining number of teenage job-seekers presents a super-size challenge for McDonald’s, where 40% of the top 50 managers — including CEO James Skinner — worked their way up from the cash register or fry vat, and which more than ever needs qualified workers to keep service from bogging down in an era of computerized cash registers and electronic ovens.
“There is a direct correlation between the quality of the crew and sales restaurants do,” says Steve Bigari, a former McDonald’s franchisee who now works with fast-food companies on labor issues.
Joel Libava on July 24th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Teen labor shortage!
Like for the last 5 years…
If anyone goes into a Mac and Don’s nowaday’s, there are 4 kids working behind the counter. In my youth, there used to be 10 kids bumping into each other behind the counter. I hope Mcd’s Corp. figures out that another dollar an hour won’t get more kids involved in jobs there. There must be another type of incentive.