Want a job with that? McDonald's 'Hiring Day' draws thousands

McDonalds for years has fought critics who complain its making people fat. On Tuesday, it went on offense against those who say it is a lousy place to work.

Thousands of people showed up to McDonalds restaurants nationwide to apply for jobs on the hamburger giants first National Hiring Day, creating lines in some places.

The worlds largest burger chain planned to use the day to add 50,000 workers.

McDonalds (MCD) painted the event as a boon for an economy where more than 13 million Americans are looking for work. But the company usually staffs up for summer anyway. It added 50,000 workers in April last year, so the blitz amounts to typical hiring, compressed into a day.

The real purpose of the hiring campaign, industry experts say, is to portray the fast-food chain as a good employer.

There are worse things an economic rebound could ask than, Welcome to McDonalds  may I take your order please? Jan Fields, president of McDonalds U.S. operations, wrote in an opinion piece for the company.

Fighting the you-want-fries-with-that jokes will be a challenge for a company whose name is often synonymous with cautionary tales about dead-end jobs. McJob even has a place in The Oxford English Dictionary, defined as an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects.

But to people who need work, that is all beside the point. Managers at a McDonalds in Cincinnati said a dozen or so applicants had lined up by 7 a.m., an hour before the restaurant planned to start interviews. By 10 a.m., the store had interviewed 100 people and had 25 waiting.

Tiwian Irby, 28, was hoping for a full-time job and wasnt particular about what it would entail. He said hed had trouble finding regular work since being laid off from his construction job two years ago.

A job is a job to me, said Irby, a father of three. Ill take whatever is available.

Cortney Gatewood, 16, was looking for part-time work to save for college and didnt hesitate to consider McDonalds.

I think its a good place to work, Gatewood said. I come here almost every day to eat anyway.

Danitra Barnett, the companys U.S. vice president of human resources, said she couldnt specify how many of the 50,000 new jobs will be full time, or what they will pay. About 90% of McDonalds restaurants are owned by franchisees, and the company doesnt control what they offer in wages or benefits. Barnett said most franchisees pay more than the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25-an-hour.

McDonalds said it and its franchisees will spend an additional $518 million in the coming year because of Tuesdays hiring. That amounts to just over $10,000 per new employee.

Spokeswoman Danya Proud said the company prefers to emphasize the total economic benefit of the campaign, including the money new workers will spend in their communities.

Proud said salaried managers for company-owned restaurants can make between $32,000 and $50,000 annually.

The company said last year that about 75% of employees at company-owned restaurants are part-time, averaging 18 hours a week.

But it also touts how those jobs can grow into bigger opportunities. According to the company, 30% of its executives started in McDonalds restaurants, as well as more than 70% of restaurant managers.

With 14,000 U.S. restaurants, Tuesdays planned additions amount to three or four new employees per restaurant  the number each store is probably usually looking for anyway, said Sara Senatore, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein.

For Richmond, Va., area franchisee Sue Durlak, the event was an opportunity to expand the applicant pool for her 10 restaurants, and maybe find someone who can follow in her footsteps.

She started part-time in 1982 to supplement her income while working as a middle-school health teacher in Illinois. Now she owns several locations.

I do look at anyone who applies, as well as the rest of my team, as the potential as a lifer, Durlak said.

McDonalds is expected to release the final hiring count next week.

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Contributing:AP Business Writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va.

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