McDonald’s franchises hired between
25 and 30 new employees from Santa
Barbara County this week, in following
with the company’s stated goal to hire as
many as 50,000 new people nationwide.
The company is expanding and looking
to hire for part-time, full-time and
seasonal work. Company representatives
said jobs with the corporation can lead to
future careers at any of 600,000 restaurants
across America.
The McDonald’s job openings come
at a time when unemployment rates are
high throughout California. Currently, 12
percent of Californians are unemployed,
and nine percent of Santa Barbara County
residents are jobless.
“As far as locally, we have six restaurants
ranging from Santa Barbara and Goleta,
and we interviewed about 150 people on
that day; so, it was very successful as far as
the amount of people who came in,” Central
Coast Vice President of Operations Monte
Fraker said. “From those 150 people, we
hired about four to five people per store; so,
about 25 to 30 folks were hired based on all
those interviews.”
Fraker said he began his professional
career behind a Mickey D’s counter 30
years ago.
“I started when I was 16 as a co-worker
at the front counter, and now I am part
owner of six restaurants,” Fraker said. “I
am proof that the system is amazing. We
have over 20 people who have been with us
for over 20 years, and many of those people
started in high school and are now running
two-million-dollar restaurants.”
Fraker said his supervisor started working
for McDonald’s at 16. She now manages
$6 million in assets for three of six Central
Coast McDonald’s franchise locations.
“The career opportunities are fantastic,
whether you stay with us for a year, or like
me, for over 30 years, you learn how to treat
your costumers, how to get along with your
co-workers, get involved in management,
and even part-time if you are going to
school,” Fraker said.
Sharif Elseify, second-year economics
major, said hiring more employees is a great
way to stimulate the economy.
“Unemployment is a continuing problem
in this country, and a great way to
improve the horrible situation is to get
people back into the labor force producing
goods and services,” Elseify said. “Locally,
it will be good to see people employed and
positively contributing to society.”
Third-year communications major Kady
Bell said McDonald’s is sending a positive
message by hiring so many people.
“People see McDonald’s as a fast
food restaurant with dead-end jobs, but
in reality, McDonald’s provides lasting
careers and opportunity for hard-working employees,” Bell said.
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