McDonald’s, the third-largest food chain in the U.S. by store number, said Monday that its franchisee and company-owned restaurants in New Jersey are hoping to hire about 4,200 people this summer.
The effort is part of one of the biggest national hiring drives by franchisees and company-owned restaurants by the Chicago-based company in years. McDonald’s announced plans for company-owned restaurants and local franchisees throughout the U.S. to hire up to 375,000 people. In a press release, the company said it is expanding its restaurant footprint by 900 new U.S. restaurants by 2027.
The initiative by McDonald’s is part of the Golden Arches company’s plan announced in 2023 to open 10,000 stores worldwide by 2027, in what the fast-food chain said would be the “fastest period of growth” in its history. At the same time, it announced a partnership with Google to automate restaurants using artificial intelligence.
The summer-hiring announcement comes as increasing automation at fast-food restaurants replaces workers and rising minimum-wage costs have been blamed for tamping down hiring. In New Jersey, the minimum increased by 36 cents in January to $15.49 per hour for most employees, the fifth-highest in the nation.
McDonald’s is the third-largest food chain in New Jersey based on the number of locations with 251 locations in 192 towns and cities. Dunkin Donuts has the most number of locations with 868 locations followed by Starbucks with 347.
There were 13,637 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States as of May 5. The state and territory with the most McDonald’s locations in the U.S. is California, with 1,224 restaurants, which is about 9% of all McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S.
