Dive Brief:
- Things are looking up for McDonald's bottom line, and according to an article on ATTN, it's partly because the company raised some employees' pay and boosted benefits – the new availability of all-day breakfast aside.
- ATTN's article noted that after reporting an increase in comparable sales for the third straight quarter in late April, CEO Steve Easterbrook credited, among other things, improved employee benefits and higher wages as playing playing a key role in the comeback.
- In a call with analysts, Easterbrook said improvements to its compensation and benefits packages in U.S.-company operated restaurants (about 10% of total employees), along with the expanded tuition assistance program drove lower turnover and higher customer satisfaction scores.
Dive Insight:
ATTN mentioned that in 2015 McDonald's announced raising wages for an estimated 90,000 workers employed at company-owned U.S. stores, although those higher wages and benefits were not automatically extended to franchise employees, who form the majority of McDonald's workforce.
Erin Johansson, research director at Jobs With Justice, told ATTN that the situation was "great news," but added that her organization favors wage increases not just to their direct employees, but to McDonald's franchise workers too.
The ATTN article also notes that raising worker pay could reduce a burden on U.S. taxpayers, as more than $1.2 billion in annual tax dollars are required to cover public assistance programs for McDonald's employees, according to a recent study by the National Employment Law Project.