McDonald's on what's behind big hiring plans

McDonald’s Corp. officials said the company’s plan to hire 50,000 people in one day presents it with an opportunity to show that a “McJob” isn’t a dead end but rather the start of a career.

With its National Hiring Day initiative April 19, McDonald’s will increase its workforce from 650,000 people in the United States to 700,000. The move comes at a time the brand’s growth is more likely to come from increased same-store sales rather than rapidly adding restaurants, requiring new hires to be trained by the leaders that have been educated at Hamburger University for five decades.

Chris Lyons, McDonald’s vice president of worldwide training and development, said at an event at Hamburger University on Tuesday that National Hiring Day would be the brand’s chance to counter negative perceptions of what having a “McJob” means for career development.