Ágnes Horváth

CEO

McDonald’s Hungary Restaurant Chain LLC

It is of key importance both from social and economic aspects that companies create employment possibilities for the younger generation. At McDonald’s the majority of employees are under 30, young people taking jobs without vocational training. Most of them first experience workplace requirements and expectations in our company, they learn how to work in a team, while high performers are also given the opportunity to try taking responsibility. In a restaurant environment they also gather experience about important issues like equal treatment, trust, environmental consciousness and corporate ethics. Our theoretical and practical training courses offer more than 300 thousand hours of training annually to associates, increasing their effectiveness within our company and broaden their choices in their further careers. We operate in an employment model that is beneficial for the business, while also creating positive social effects of which we consciously try to amplify.

Assisting the career paths of young employees

Industry: FMCG

Date: 1988-nowadays

Employment


Solutions of the macro-sustainability challenges

Improve the inclusive employment of disadvantaged people according to their share of the population, especially that of young people and minorities through the whole value chain

Further targets:

What´s the solution?

McDonald’s and its franchise partners are among the largest Hungarian employers, and simultaneously the most dominant employers of students. Bearing this position, they have a key role in integrating young people into the labour market. The theoretical and practical trainings offered by McDonald’s, the first possibility to face workplace requirements and operation related processes, putting themselves to test as managers, as well as business values they learn about – all these assist and determine the way these employees’ career paths develop. Each year the company provides more than 300 thousand hours of training and education, to about 800 of its employees.

Business connection

Our business model includes offering job opportunities to newcomer employees, integrating and developing them. The basic objective of McDonald’s as an employer is to strengthen the commitment of employees and forming a stable and reliable restaurant team. We develop our associates with continuous trainings, providing the necessary conditions to do their work at high quality level, while also providing the possibility of professional development and promotions. Practical and theoretical trainings play key roles both in serving consumers at a high quality level, and developing the management layers of restaurants.

Results

2.6% of employees within the horeca sector work in our restaurants and offices, in other words about every 40th employee works for McDonald’s in the sector. McDonald’s is a dominantly young workplace: 66.5% of our employees are under 30, and 42% of them are students. We offer long term career options to our employees: within 2.5 years restaurant staff can even reach the position of  a restaurant manager. More than 80% of the current restaurant managers started their careers as restaurant staff.

Our theoretical and practical trainings offer targeted assistance to employees developing their careers: each year our company provides more than 300 thousand hours of training and education, to about 800 of its employees. During everyday work they acquire numerous skills and competences that can not only be used in their restaurant careers, but also in other fields of the labour market. Since its 1988 opening, McDonald’s employed about 80,000 people in the restaurants, who could put the work experiences, skills and competences to use in their further career path. This equals almost 2% of the current Hungarian labour force volume.

We have a long term commitment to employing young people: 41% of the total restaurant management is composed of employees under 30. Additionally, our company and franchise partners also employ women (64%) exceeding the national, regional and industry average, while part time employees represent 27%. The company also employs a significant number of people with challenges in work capabilities.

We are proud that our employment practices are verified by numerous recognitions and awards. Within the Aon Hewitt annual Best Workplace survey among Hungarian large companies we achieved the first position in 2010, while in 2011 and 2013 the company was ranked second. Within the framework of the Social Label audit, the Budapest Chance Non-profit public benefit association awarded the Bronze level to us in 2009, Silver in 2012, and in 2016 the Gold level recognition of Socially Responsible Enterprise Qualification. In addition, we also won the Versatile and Multi Generation Organisation TOP 10 award, and as founding members we signed the Agreement on Versatility. External audits and feedback also verify that we are successful at implementing our set values and principles (like equality of chances, responsible employment, etc.) in our everyday operation.