Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
CMG 2.71%
says it plans to hire 15,000 people in the U.S. as it opens more restaurants and tries to keep up with an expected increase in orders in coming months.
March, April and May are the busiest months at the fast-food chain, according to the company, which has dubbed it “burrito season.” A spokeswoman said better weather and more daylight bring people to its locations. Its restaurants near colleges do more business when classes are in session as well, she said. The company also sought 15,000 workers a year ago.
The jobs will be part-time roles and aren’t temporary, the spokeswoman said. New hires will work at its restaurants, manning the grill, stuffing tortillas or preparing salsa. The company said it opened 200 restaurants last year, and expects to open as many as 285 this year.
The jobs pay an average of $16 an hour, the company said. Last year, Chipotle raised its wages, paying between $11 an hour and $18 an hour, depending on the location.
Chipotle expects to open as many as 285 restaurants this year.
Photo:
Taylor Glascock/Bloomberg
The U.S. job market has been tight, with the December overall unemployment rate at 3.5%. Finding front-line workers continues to be hard for some industries. This week,
Walmart Inc.
said it is raising its starting pay, to $14 an hour from $12 an hour, in an effort to draw more workers.
The push by some retailers and restaurant chains contrasts with different corporate sectors, where companies have announced layoffs as they tighten their belts amid a darkening economic outlook.
With more jobs available, workers have the upper hand, said
David Henkes,
an analyst at Technomic, a consulting firm for the food and restaurant industry.
“Restaurant work is on the bottom of what desirable workers are looking for,” he said, adding that restaurants have been cutting opening hours or increasing pay to deal with staff shortages.
Chipotle said Thursday it is airing nationwide TV commercials to attract workers. On Thursday, some customers received emails trying to get them to apply for jobs, saying they can turn their love of burritos into cash.
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Announcing a hiring spree helps companies get publicity and get the message out that they are looking for workers, said
John A. Gordon,
a chain restaurant analyst and consultant.
“The industry has been very hard-hit since the pandemic,” said Mr. Gordon. Some of the workers who were laid off at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 moved on to other jobs, he said.
Chipotle, which is based in Newport Beach, Calif., has more than 100,000 employees and about 3,100 restaurants. The company said its long-term goal is to more than double the number of Chipotle locations in North America, to 7,000.
Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
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Appeared in the January 27, 2023, print edition as ‘Chipotle to Hire 15,000 To Staff ‘Burrito Season’.’
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