Talent & Benefits

Led by the Company’s core values, we are committed to fostering workplaces where employees feel empowered to pursue their career aspirations with access to opportunity.

 

Recent Highlights

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4,800+

4,800+ People Managers participated in our People Manager Connection series in 2025, exploring key skills, what’s expected from them and how they can learn from one another.

We launched Hamburger University Online – currently available to McDonald’s Corporate Staff and restaurant teams in nine markets – offering easy access to relevant, high-impact content designed or curated to build today’s essential skills and tomorrow’s leadership capabilities.

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$250M

We celebrated 10 years of Archways to Opportunity, having awarded over $250 million in tuition assistance to more than 70,000 participants by year-end 2025.

We believe providing a best-in-class employee experience – where people are given opportunities to learn and develop – is a business imperative. We equip our people with the right knowledge, tools and support to ensure they can, in turn, deliver the great service and hospitality to our customers.

See our latest Purpose & Impact Report on the Goal Performance & Reporting page for more on our recent progress. For related topics, see our pages about our commitments to Safe & Respectful Workplaces, Inclusion and Human Rights.

On this page

Our Strategy

McDonald’s vision is to be an iconic talent destination – known as much for its people experience as for the Golden Arches. Based on our belief that the employee experience can positively impact the customer experience, we are relentlessly focused on running great restaurants, empowering our people and continuing to modernize our ways of working. We have designed and are deploying strategic human resources and talent management processes that help support our long-term business strategy.

Key to this strategy has been the development of an initiative to build the foundation for a seamless, personalized employee experience and the transition of our talent processes to a digital format. This initiative will establish globally leveraged and locally relevant processes and simplify our technology landscape with four transformation objectives: elevate the McDonald’s employee experience; gain efficiency; improve workforce management; and enable advanced data analytics, insights and reporting. Achieving these objectives will help create internal visibility into the full breadth of talent at McDonald’s.

On this page, we explain the following:

Driving Values-Led Employee Progress

We believe working to deliver a best-in-class employee experience requires us to put McDonald’s five core values into action. To help measure how we are progressing, we leverage various internal indices.

In particular, we use our Inclusion Index to measure behaviors and actions being taken to help ensure an inclusive environment for Company employees. The Index measures attributes that are critical to bringing one’s authentic self to work, such as feeling free to offer opinions and having opportunities to advance in their careers at McDonald’s.

To better embed these attributes into our workplace culture, efforts need to be driven from the top. That’s why we hold our CEO and Executive Officers accountable for efforts that drive employee engagement and our values within our short-term incentive design.

 

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Our Foundational Program

Hamburger University® – Our Signature Learning Approach

Hamburger University (HU) is McDonald’s center of training excellence, designed to upskill and reskill employees globally to create a culture of continuous learning and instill a strong sense of pride. It allows employees to grow in their current roles and helps prepare them for the next level of responsibility, combining hands-on experience, networking, mentoring and structured classes – both on-site and online.

 

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Our Corporate Staff

McDonald’s Corporate Staff works daily to help make a positive impact on our business, people and communities. In turn, McDonald’s is committed to their professional development and to supporting Corporate Staff as they pursue their career paths.

We want our Corporate Staff to have a meaningful and impactful career at McDonald’s, and we offer robust opportunities to help them develop professionally, explore career-related interests and aspirations, and navigate their careers.

McDonald’s ambition is to create a place where people can work, develop, mentor and lead alongside other top talent.

Building High-Performing & Highly Engaged Teams

McDonald’s believes in motivating employee performance. Throughout the year, we encourage People Managers and their employees to engage in critical conversations to help drive business impact, values-led leadership and individual career growth. This Performance Motivation process involves four milestone conversations – the “4 Cs” of Commit, Connect, Conclude and Career – along with sharing frequent, real-time feedback year-round. Each of these important conversations helps ensure Company employees are focused on the right priorities, have an opportunity to reflect and review progress, and can discuss feedback and development opportunities.

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McDonald’s sets high expectations for how its employees lead the business and each other. We use our competency framework, the BEST Model, to define four categories of behaviors, each designed to help enable high performance for Corporate Staff at all levels. These categories are: the Building Blocks that make employees successful at McDonald’s, as well as the three areas needed to drive results: Execution, Strategy and Talent.

The BEST Model helps define what good performance looks like for Company employees and People Managers, and McDonald’s uses it as a foundation for hiring, developing and assessing talent. It serves as a compass for Company employees and People Managers when exchanging feedback and directing continuous growth and development. When selecting candidates for specific roles, demonstration of BEST is considered along with key factors such as skills, experiences and other job requirements.

To help shape career paths for certain Corporate Staff, we offer the opportunity for some individuals to participate in leadership development programs such as “Inspire” or “Elevate.” These programs are delivered through a variety of learning approaches, such as a series of workshops, on-demand learning or experiential activities, to help develop new and existing people leaders.

Leadership at McDonald’s is accountable for acting to advance a talent pool that will support our long-term success. The expectation is for Officers to engage in inclusive behaviors that support talent development and help build a strong succession pipeline. The focus is on encouraging the behaviors and actions that help ensure business continuity. Leaders’ actions against these expectations contribute to their annual performance ratings and incentive compensation.

To enhance our ability to build strong leadership pipelines, we have a global Talent Review process for Company employees. The process provides a common language by which to assess and identify high-potential leaders and inform succession planning.

Continuing Education Support for Corporate Staff

McDonald’s invests in the long-term growth of its corporate talent through a strategic partnership with DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. This collaboration offers eligible Corporate Staff access to an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program designed to build enterprise-critical leadership and business capabilities.

Through this partnership, participants receive a 40% tuition discount, which can be combined with McDonald’s education assistance benefits, significantly reducing the financial barrier to advanced education. The program features a customized curriculum, developed in collaboration with DePaul faculty, with a focus on strategic management, finance, marketing and effective business communication: all capabilities essential for navigating complex, global business environments and preparing talent for future leadership roles within McDonald’s. Since the partnership launch in 2019, nearly 100 McDonald’s Corporate Staff have obtained their MBA.

Career Planning & Development Philosophy

We’ve created a comprehensive Career Planning and Development Philosophy, deeply rooted in McDonald’s purpose, mission and values, to help our Corporate Staff on their career journeys. This Philosophy guides employees in how to develop their careers and details how McDonald’s can help build strong leadership pipelines.

There are many ways we put the Philosophy into action. For example, we created the Career Navigator, a guide for employees to use when exploring the tools, services and offerings available to help them on their career journeys. We also provide resources for People Managers to develop employees’ skills to help support their career aspirations. For example, our annual Career Conversations are opportunities for employees to discuss career plans with their People Manager and receive advice about how to pursue them. We provide guidance to all Corporate Staff on how to have an effective Career Conversation, from both a People Manager and employee perspective, to help ensure employees make the most of these conversations. People Managers are also encouraged to periodically hold a one-on-one opportunity for leaders to listen and for people to share their perspectives on what they enjoy and what could be even better at McDonald’s.

 

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Restaurant Staff

McDonald’s is committed to providing training, education and career pathways to empower Restaurant Staff. We and our Franchisees want to make McDonald’s one of the best places to work and offer development opportunities unique to McDonald’s restaurants.

By creating an environment of learning and development, McDonald’s is focused on attracting and retaining the very best people and enabling its Franchisees to do the same. McDonald’s is dedicated to providing learning and development opportunities for employees at all stages of their professional journeys, whether or not they choose to build a career within the McDonald’s System.

Continuing Education Support for Restaurant Staff

We believe opportunity starts with education – which is why McDonald’s offers avenues for learning to its Restaurant Staff and encourages our Franchisees to do the same. Through Archways to Opportunity, McDonald’s and participating Franchisees offer educational programs to eligible employees at participating restaurants in the U.S. and provide access to programs that provide an opportunity to grow and learn – whether that means graduating from high school or college, learning English as a second language or obtaining access to academic or career advisors. Learn more about Archways to Opportunity in the U.S.

McDonald’s also offers apprenticeships – opportunities to earn nationally recognized qualifications while working – to Restaurant Staff in several European markets to help promote and improve access to vocational training.

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Related Story

Making Dreams Reality with Archways to Opportunity

 

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Talent Recognition

Our recognition framework encourages dedicated effort, rewards behaviors and results, and celebrates career milestones in a meaningful way. We have five global pinnacle awards that reward high achievers among Corporate Staff, Restaurant Staff and Franchisees.

Awards

Every year, through our annual Presidents’ Award, we reward Corporate Staff who have demonstrated all five McDonald’s values, and an annual Shining Light Award goes to Corporate Staff as nominated by their peers who have best demonstrated one of our values in action. The Circle of Excellence is an annual award given to Corporate Staff teams that have contributed most to our purpose, mission and values in that year.

Our Ray Kroc Award for Restaurant Managers (which may be awarded to Company or Franchisee Restaurant Staff) is presented for values-led behaviors, as well as for noteworthy business and financial results, and the Fred Turner Golden Arch Awards recognize Franchisees who have made significant contributions to McDonald’s purpose, mission and values. Winners of these two awards are recognized at our Worldwide Convention, typically held every other year.

SHINE Platform

SHINE is McDonald’s peer recognition program for Corporate Staff, designed to help drive a culture of recognition and shared success. The platform is accessible to Corporate Staff in our global functions and enables people to allocate virtual points to colleagues they believe are worthy of recognition.

Recognition is assigned a point value that can be redeemed for a range of rewards, including merchandise, gift cards and more. It is a key component of our efforts to encourage employees to celebrate the moments that matter and to recognize those going above and beyond to succeed under the Golden Arches.

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Rewards

To help attract and retain talent at all levels of the Company, we provide competitive compensation commensurate with an employee’s position, experience, performance and location. We regularly evaluate competitive wage data and local market trends to help determine appropriate wage ranges, in addition to complying with all applicable laws.

The following Global Pay Principles help ensure that good pay practices are understood and consistently implemented for all Company employees:

  • Competitive: We aim to align pay opportunities with the external value of a job to help McDonald’s attract, engage, retain and motivate talent. The competitiveness of the McDonald’s pay rates is reviewed periodically relative to our size, scale, performance and talent needs.
  • Performance-based: We design our pay to be focused on motivating high performance, recognizing achievement and reinforcing behaviors that align with McDonald’s values.
  • Understandable: We aim to communicate pay programs regularly and transparently. We strive for simplicity and focus on the design of our programs to help ensure Company employees understand what determines their pay.
  • Non-discriminatory: Company employees are compensated at a level commensurate with their role, responsibility, impact, location, experience, knowledge, skills and performance, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity or any other similar protected personal characteristics.
  • Compliant: We comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements and standards.

Supporting Employee Well-Being

At McDonald’s, supporting the happiness, health and overall well-being of our people is central to who we are. Our global well-being strategy is anchored in five core pillars – Emotional, Physical, Financial, Workplace and Social – which, together, encourage employees to think holistically about their well-being. Through our Be Well Together framework, we bring these pillars to life in everyday experiences, offering practical tools and meaningful support that help employees care for themselves and one another.

Making Well-Being Meaningful Locally

While the global well-being framework provides consistent guidance and direction, each market is empowered to shape and deliver programs that reflect the unique needs of its people. This ensures Corporate Staff, Company-owned Restaurant Staff and participating Franchisee Restaurant Staff experience well-being in ways that are both relevant and culturally meaningful.

  • Benefits and everyday support that form the foundation of well-being across our system. Widely offered and highly used, these include Employee Assistance Programs, free meals, medical coverage and gym memberships, providing essential, practical support that helps employees care for their day-to-day health and well-being.
  • Locally tailored solutions such as the Sonder app in Australia for 24/7 personal safety and mental health support; Daily Pay in the U.S. for flexible earned wage access; and Well-Being Champions in Poland who share their personal experiences.
  • Inclusive well-being moments like Well-Being Wednesdays in Austria, Canada, Italy, the U.S. and the U.K., which spotlight weekly health and well-being messages.

Connection, Community & Shared Purpose

Community-focused initiatives, such as Global Volunteer Month and other local volunteering activities, give employees opportunities to support causes that matter in their communities. Celebratory moments like Employee Appreciation Day and Founder’s Day, along with brand ambassador programs that showcase employees’ pride in working at McDonald’s, further foster belonging, connection and shared purpose. Our global digital engagement platform, McD Connect, amplifies these efforts by sharing local and global well-being campaigns across multiple markets, providing McDonald’s employees in these markets access to timely and relevant information.

Global Benefits Principles & Locally Relevant Rewards

We offer market-competitive benefits to individuals employed by the Company. In some countries, we offer benefits to full- and part-time Company employees working a certain number of hours.

Below, we’ve provided an overview of core benefits offered in our top-six McDonald’s-operated markets by revenue. Our Global People teams work to identify the needs of Corporate Staff and Restaurant Staff and aim to create market-competitive benefit packages, which are reviewed regularly and benchmarked against peers.

In the U.S., we offer health and welfare and retirement benefits, as well as paid time off and parental leave, to Corporate Staff and Company-owned and operated Restaurant Staff working a certain number of hours or based on position. We also provide life insurance, paid short-term and long-term disability leave, educational assistance and paid volunteer time off. An eight-week paid sabbatical is available for select Company employees who have worked for the Company for 10 years.

We offer Company employees in the U.S. a wide range of benefits and programs to help support their needs and goals, including critical illness insurance, access to mental health support programs, discounted childcare, emergency relief, an employee discount program, a prescription drug discount program, pet insurance, legal insurance and virtual urgent care.

In Australia, all Company employees have access to retirement benefits, fully funded by employer contributions, as required by law. Additionally, we offer healthcare benefits, paid time off1 and parental leave to Corporate Staff and Company-owned Restaurant Staff working more than a certain number of hours.

In Canada, all Company employees have access to public healthcare funded by the employer health tax. Additionally, we offer healthcare and retirement benefits as well as paid time off and parental leave to Corporate Staff and Company-owned and operated Restaurant Staff working a certain number of hours.

In France, all Company employees are automatically enrolled in retirement benefits provided for by law. Additionally, we offer healthcare benefits, paid time off and parental leave to Corporate Staff and Company-owned Restaurant Staff, as provided for by law or by Company agreements.

In Germany, Company employees are covered by the comprehensive public healthcare system and automatically enrolled in retirement benefits provided for by law. Additionally, we offer paid time off and parental leave to Corporate Staff of majority-owned subsidiaries and Company-owned Restaurant Staff working more than a certain number of hours.

In the U.K., all Company employees are covered by the public healthcare system and automatically enrolled in retirement benefits provided for by law. Additionally, we offer paid time off and parental leave to Corporate Staff of majority-owned subsidiaries and Company-owned Restaurant Staff working more than a certain number of hours.

 

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Related Topics

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Inclusion

At McDonald’s, we believe in creating access to opportunity for everyone we serve, whether it’s our customers, employees, Franchisees or suppliers. It’s a belief that underpins our steadfast commitment to always putting people first.

 

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Human Rights

We strive to weave human rights into McDonald’s day-to-day practices, helping fulfill our commitment to respect the rights of all people and communities who produce, serve and enjoy our food.

 

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Safe & Respectful Workplaces

We believe that, as a brand, we have a responsibility to help protect the health and safety of anyone who works at or enters a McDonald’s restaurant.

 

 

See our performance highlights and read our latest Purpose & Impact Report

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Footnotes

1 Excludes casual workers. Casual workers in Australia do not have fixed work hours. They receive a higher hourly rate and do not qualify for certain benefits as outlined.

 

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