McDonald’s Restaurant Employees Spoke, and We Listened – Inspiring Our “Where You Want To Be” Campaign

Current restaurant employees are encouraged to learn more here.

McDonald’s is proud to announce the launch of its Where You Want To Be campaign, a new effort to help restaurant employees with their long-term career plans, and the addition of career advising services offered through the company’s comprehensive education program, Archways to Opportunity.

As part of our Workforce Preparedness Study, we found out the top desired industries of restaurant employees – and that 17% are undecided when it comes to their long-term career paths.

So, what exactly is McDonald’s doing? Together with our independent franchisees we are taking two important actions to empower and educate restaurant employees for their future careers as well as the immediate moment.

First, we are giving them a chance to experience their future career under the wings of an expert for those restaurant employees who know where they want to be. In partnership with industry influencers, McDonald’s is inviting restaurant employees to submit a video describing why McDonald’s is where they want to be today, in order to learn the skills that will help take them to where they want to be tomorrow for a chance to win a career shadow day in their desired field. McDonald’s will select a group of restaurant employees to be paired with successful influencers, including Dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon Dr. Meena Singh, as well as a community of McDonald’s Owner/Operators. This shadow experience will give the selected restaurant employees the opportunity to gain real-life experience and get one step closer to achieving their future career goals.

In addition, McDonald’s is leveraging the Where You Want To Be campaign to highlight the new suite of career advising tools available through its signature education program, Archways to Opportunity. Together with longstanding Archways education partner, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), McDonald’s aims to improve employees’ experience with career pathing solutions to better position them for long-term career success. Designed to help restaurant employees identify potential career paths and then chart a course of action to achievement, these new or enhanced tools include career advising services and a career exploration tool. Available immediately, restaurant employees can access no-cost career and academic advising services with a Master’s-level prepared advisor to create a plan for reaching short and long-term education goals that bridge to career pathways. In 2019, McDonald’s restaurant employees will gain access to a rich new mobile experience for career and education exploration through a mobile app featuring built-in guidance and resources to help people advance their careers. Restaurant employees will be able to understand the valuable skills they are developing, understand their strengths, find local education and link to growth opportunities in a variety of careers. This tool will be connected to existing advisors who are able to support restaurant employees in utilizing all Archways to Opportunity programs.

“The focus McDonald’s is putting on restaurant employees and their education and future employability aligns perfectly with our mission, so we are proud to be taking our partnership to the next level,” said Dr. Marie Cini, President of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. “As a young worker, it can be hard to look beyond the day-to-day and think about the future, but services like this can be a huge help for youth that may not know what careers are available to them and need help mapping out how to grow their skills, education and interests to be set up for success. With this new offering, McDonald’s is giving restaurant employees a big leg up in their journey to building the futures they want.”

To learn more about McDonald’s Where You Want To Be campaign and the expanded partnership with CAEL, please visit our press release.