McDonald’s Corp. said it would raise pay for employees at company-owned restaurants in the U.S., one of the latest companies to bolster wages and benefits as they struggle to hire workers.
The burger giant said Thursday it would increase wages for more than 36,500 hourly workers by an average of 10% over the next several months. Nonmanagerial workers at the chain’s roughly 660 company-owned restaurants in the U.S. would earn at least $11 to $17 an hour at entry levels after the increases, McDonald’s said. Supervisors would earn an hourly minimum of $15 to $20. Nonmanagerial employees at company-owned stores earlier this year earned an average of nearly $12 an hour, McDonald’s said, and supervisors earned some $16 to $18 an hour.
McDonald’s owns a fraction of its 13,900 U.S. restaurants, around 95% of which are operated by franchisees. Owners have said they are reviewing pay and benefits at their stores. The National Owners Association, a group representing U.S. franchisees, said in an email to its members on Sunday that strong sales should allow operators to raise menu prices if they choose to compensate for higher spending on pay and benefits.
“We need to do whatever it takes to staff our restaurants and then charge for it,” the association said.
A shortage of workers across the U.S. economy has prompted some employers to boost pay and benefits as they hunt for workers. McDonald’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Applebee’s, KFC and other chains have said they want to hire tens of thousands of workers in the coming months as they reopen dining rooms and seek to better staff their restaurants.
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