Ok.......while at first I wasn't going to step into this conversation, after reading extensively about the two companies vilified the most in this country it seems, I just felt this need to come in and put my two cents worth in.
I spent 12 years working for McDonalds and learned a great deal about how it operates. Something it is very obvious that many of those that vilify it the strongest have no clue of. First off, McDonalds stores are NOT one huge corporation. 96% of all McDonalds in the US are owned by individual franchise owners. Not only do they pay their employees, cover all the overhead costs, they pay their franchise fees with regularity. And trust me, that ain't pennies! The majority of all McDonalds employees are what I lovingly call stair step employees. It's a job that is simply a stairstep on to other things. They are highschool and entry level college students for the most part. They still live at home and are NOT depended on their wages to support themselves. ANYONE that works for McDonalds has the potential to become an owner if they so desire. Me.....during the first 5 years I worked at McDonalds I went from cashier to shift leader, to shift supervisor, to breakfast manager, to second assistant, to first assistant, to Store Manager. I worked for a great gentleman who owned 6 stores in a two town area. He believed very strongly in promoting from within his stores for those management positions. My foray into Store Manager was not an easy one. But it was one I thoroughly enjoyed for 7 years. YES, I had to WORK for it. It was not just given to me. I also had to go to "Hamburger U" (it really exists) for their 6 week training program. That is 6 weeks away from home with little to no time for anything but learning the ins and outs of what makes McDonalds so sucessful. Procedure until I was quoting temperatures, cooking times, and cleanliness standards in my sleep. Was it worth it? Hell yeah! I made good money, had fun at my job, considered all of my "kids" my family and had the opportunity if I so chose to become a Store Owner. I chose to go a different route and sometimes wonder if that was a mistake. But the long hours and the toll it was taking on me physically pushed me into school, which by the way, was helped along with Employee Scholarships given by none other than the McDonalds corporation. McDonalds is a great place to work and offers a lot of growth potential to those that CHOOSE to go for the oppotunities they offer. It's NOT just a menial, flipping burgers job. It's what you make it.
I remember well one particular young lady that had that potential. A single mother with two kids. She could have pushed her way forward into a position of management, gotten away from the minimum wage level but she CHOSE not to. Her reasoning everytime I asked why she wouldn't take my offer of a shift leader or shift manager position......................"if I make anymore money then I won't get my apartment paid for and I'll lose my foodstamps". Real motivation wouldn't you say? Do you realize just how many people actually STAY in minimum wage jobs JUST FOR THOSE REASONS?
Sure McDonalds STARTS it employees at minimum wage. Why shouldn't they? 95% of those that come to work for McDonalds have no discernable skills, this is their first job, or they're just working for some spending money while finishing High School or College. BUT...and I know this to be fact......people that choose to stay at McDonalds, even those parents you see working in many of them, are NOT stuck at minimum wage. There is a standard that ALL franchise owners have to adhere to. COL raises are common. Maybe not so much now with our economy as it is, but they are a standard. Just as performance raises are a standard. The franchise owner is NOT the dictator when it comes to 99.9% of McDonald's standards and operations procedures. They follow a long held guideline dictated by the McDonalds Corporation. Why in the hell do you think that they've remained such a driving force in this country and able to maintain the number of stores that are in existance and popping up all the time? It's not because they "jack their prices up", it's not because they refuse to pay their employees a decent wage, it's because of the standards that Ray Croc first set aside for his company. Standards to this day that must be followed by all franchise owners or their franchise license can and will be pulled.
Yes, I'm a defender of McDonalds!! I've been there. I learned the expectations that the corporation as a whole has for each of it's stores. Those that the corp still owns AND those that are owned by individuals. Some of those standards have changed over the years and several things happened that a lot of us felt had Ray Croc turning over in his grave. But those changes did NOT hurt them. Sure they deviated from his "vision" but in the long run they proved sucessful. I still keep in touch with a lot of my "kids" and have seen many of them go on to be well paid, productive, members of our society. A couple have even become Store ownes themselves and love it.
I know I've rambled, but what I think I'm trying to show here, is that sure, McDonalds is one of those minimum wage (starting pay) employers. BUT, McDonalds offers the means and the opportunity to go as far as you want within the company IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO! They give out scholarships, they do great charity work, they are a "stair step" company for a lot of up and coming doctors, lawyers, CEO's, etc etc. It seems to me that so many of the people that choose to vilify McDonalds do so simply because all they see is a minimum wage (starting pay) type of company where a bunch of semi literate, unskilled, struggling people work and have NO CLUE exactly how the company operates. INHO, for as big as Walmart is, they could take lessons from the McDonalds corporation on how to treat their employees. And by the way, 95% of McDonalds store owners offer some form of health insurance. When you're eligible depends on the number of hours you work sure. They aren't just going to hand out insurance to some 16 year old kid working maybe 20 hours a week for spending money while they're still in High School. There are requirements you have to meet to be able to have insurance. So please, before you continue to vilify a company for what you PERCIEVE is mistreatment of it's employees and not paying a decent living wage, learn a little more about what goes on behind the scenes before you claim to have all the answers. You only see it from YOUR side of the counter.
