Mcdonald\'s: Recruitment in Books Such

McDonald's: Recruitment

In books such as Fast Food Nation, McDonald's has been accused of unfairly exploiting its workers, particularly young workers, almost by fostering an environment that is an extension of high school, where workers are encouraged to work long hours, even off the clock, for little pay, to be with their friends. "Over 60% of restaurant crew are aged 20 or under" ("Recruiting suitable applicants," UK Case Study: McDonald's Restaurants, 2008). Recruitment is fairly easy -- many people work in the fast food industry as their first job, and "one in eight Americans are employed by McDonald's at some point in their life," but this statistic also suggests employee turnover is high (MacDougall 2003).

The company prefers to recruit by soliciting the friends of existing employees, but also advertises, sometimes constantly in a local paper. "McDonald's also uses local job centres, career fairs and other local venues" ("Recruiting suitable applicants," UK Case Study: McDonald's Restaurants, 2008). McDonalds has begun recruiting staff online in Australia and the United Kingdom, where employees fill out an application and complete an online psychometric test, which is followed by a face-to-face interview ("McDonalds rolls out online recruitment," Computer World, 2006; "Recruiting suitable applicants," UK Case Study: McDonald's Restaurants, 2008).

McDonald's Training

McDonald's has a highly standardized training program, with both hands-on and class training sessions for new hires, complete with experience at all workstations and workbooks, textbooks, and exams. Its managers are required to attend "Hamburger University," which gives information on shift and systems management and restaurant and business leadership ("Training," UK Case Study: McDonald's Restaurants, 2008). But in its implementation, many Hamburger University graduates complain of a great discrepancy between reality and the ideals of the program. "There was a vast difference between what I was told on McDonalds training courses about how to treat and what actually happened on the floor of the store...Trainee Managers were trained in the art of employee management as a two way relationship," but this was not the case in the store where workers were often intimidated and ordered around (Cranna 1995).

On the job, workers have complained that "clock card entries being altered by managers to save on labour expenses," is rife, as is being forced to work beyond the stated limits of their shift.

Retention