Need more incentive to apply for a job? You may be in luck because a Florida McDonald’s is offering people $50 just to come in for an interview.
Despite the bit of encouragement, it’s still not attracting as many people as they’d hoped.
Blake Casper, the owner of this particular McDonald’s franchise, told Insider that a supervisor and general manager came up with the idea to reward people for interviewing with them, saying “do whatever you need to do” to get new employees.
He also owns 60 McDonald’s restaurants in Tampa, Florida.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Insider reported that the United States restaurant industry was short 1.2 million employees in March from the same time last year. The shortage of labor may also keep some of the restaurants from opening their dining rooms this year.
Casper also mentioned that as other food businesses in the US are interested in hiring more workers, it has cut into the number of applicants due to increased unemployment benefits. He believes it hasn’t been this hard to hire people since the late ‘90s.
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Casper also acknowledges that business has also been good for him with the success of the chicken sandwich, with customers willingly spending thanks to the post-stimulus check.
“You’ve got a lot of people with a lot of money, and they’re out there shopping,” he said about the success.
Additionally, the labor shortage has forced Casper and other franchisees to raise their starting wages. He told Insider that he was considering raising the starting wages from $US12 ( which is $3 above Florida’s minimum wage) to US$13 to entice more people to apply.
“The biggest challenge out there is the federal government and the state government are going to continue with this unemployment because that is truly creating the incentive to not work right now,” Casper told Insider. “And, how do you blame somebody? You can make more money on unemployment — and so, we’ve got to be at least above that.”
Casper has found more success in hiring people from singing bonuses, applying through text messages and referral programs. And last week, his 60 restaurants were able to hire 115 people.
