The fast food chain said Wednesday that it is cooperating with AARP, an ideal interest group for aging Americans, to help attract workers aged fifty or over. According to the company, demographics represent only 11% of the workforce in business-owned stores.
McDonalds ( MCD ) hopes that the new recruitment tactics will attract workers for breakfast and lunch change, especially. Now McDonald's tends to attract younger workers who can't work in the morning because of school, or prefer not to start early in the day. Hiring older workers is also a way of attracting talent as US unemployment, now at 3.8%, fluctuates close to all-time low.
McDonald has posted posts to his AARP site. The AARP Foundation is helping outcart candidates with open jobs at McDonalds through their Senior Community Service Employment Program, which helps low-income, unemployed people aged 55 and over, find work, and through Back to Work 50+, which also helps senior job seekers. The process is being piloted in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina, with a national rollout scheduled for this summer. McDonalds wants to fill 250,000 jobs.
For the company, the program is also a way of increasing diversity, says Melissa Kersey, McDonald's American Chief People Officer.
"Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial to the success of the business," she told CNN Business. "We believe age is also an important part of it."
With the labor market so tight, fast food chains have become creative in their efforts to attract workers. Earlier this month, Taco Bell announced that it would host nearly 600 "hiring parties" with free food, swag and Instagram-friendly photo studios to fill thousands of open jobs. The parties are scheduled for this week.
Businesses may also be particularly interested in hiring older workers.
Susan Weinstock, vice president of economic resilience programming at AARP, told CNN Business that about 1,000 companies, including McDonald's, have signed AARP's employer program, which requires government signatories to "recognize the value of experienced workers "and" recruiting over different age groups. " Main employers like Google GOOGL ) CVS ( CVS ) Macy's ” data-src-mini=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-small-169.jpg” data-src-xsmall=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-medium-plus-169.jpg” data-src-small=”http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-large-169.jpg” data-src-medium=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-exlarge-169.jpg” data-src-large=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-super-169.jpg” data-src-full16x9=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-full-169.jpg” data-src-mini1x1=”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190424134557-mcdonalds-aarp-older-employees-small-11.jpg” data-demand-load=”not-loaded” data-eq-pts=”mini: 0, xsmall: 221, small: 308, medium: 461, large: 781″ src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhEAAJAJEAAAAAAP///////wAAACH5BAEAAAIALAAAAAAQAAkAAAIKlI+py+0Po5yUFQA7″/>) and others have signed the promise.
"Over the past couple of years, we've seen an acceleration of signing companies," Weinstock said. "I think the word is about the quality of older workers," she added. "There is also a shortage of labor and this is an opportunity for employers."
McDonald's plans to encourage members of other demographics to seek out various recruitment methods are moving forward, Kersey said.
