Chipotle Hiring Blitz: 4K Workers, One Day

Chain hopes to recruit thousands during 'National Career Day' on Sept. 9
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2015 11:04 AM CDT
Chipotle Hiring Blitz: 4K Workers, One Day
Customers walk into a Chipotle restaurant Sept. 21, 2010, in Mountain View, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

In the restaurant industry's continued "war on talent," Chipotle is fighting back against a tight labor market with a single-day blitz next month in which it hopes to hire 4,000 workers in one fell swoop, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Sept. 9 "National Career Day," which would grow the chain's 59,000 employees by 7%, will host interviews for up to 60 applicants at every US Chipotle location between 8am and 11am, a press release notes; interested parties can register for an interview on the National Career Day website. The event, being promoted starting today via social media and Pandora, would be the latest jump by "limited-service" eateries to attract the decreasing pool of workers, defecting more often to higher-end restaurants paying higher wages, per the Journal.

Competitors like McDonald's, Starbucks, and Cheesecake Factory have already raised the bar by offering higher wages and perks such as tuition reimbursement; Chipotle has taken a similar tack, upping tuition reimbursement, vacation, and sick days. But it's now enticing candidates with apprenticeships (where workers can earn an average salary of $53,000 a year) and the status of "restaurateur" (the chain's term for upper management, with an average salary of $133,000). Chipotle also says candidates don't necessarily need experience, just qualifications based on its 13 main hiring traits, including honesty, curiosity, and being "infectiously enthusiastic" (all 13 are here). Glassdoor.com reviews indicate the salaries listed by Chipotle may be exaggerated, but Monty Moran, Chipotle's co-CEO, insists those assessments are wrong, per the Journal. (Chipotle was the first major fast-food chain to go GM-free.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X