MCDONALD’S – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0028)

Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry

 

 

Introduction

  1. McDonald’s UK welcomes the opportunity to respond to this Committee’s inquiry on Youth Unemployment. As a business, we are committed to supporting young people into fulfilling, paid employment and supporting the UK hospitality sector as a whole – two issues of the upmost importance as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. This submission highlights McDonald’s work to date on skills and training alongside our firm belief in providing young people with the opportunities to grow and learn right from the beginning of their careers.

 

Employing young people

  1. McDonald’s is proud to be one of the country’s largest employers of young people - 67% of our workforce is aged between 16-25, and for just under half of our staff, their job with McDonald’s is their first.

 

  1. Central to our work is providing young people with the first step in their careers, giving them the opportunity to gain the training and skills they need to progress. Through our Youth Opportunity Strategy, we have a global ambition to support 2 million people begin their career by 2025 through pre-employment job-readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development programmes.

 

  1. We also have an apprenticeship programme which helps to get more young people into work, providing them with invaluable training and opportunities for progression:
    1. We are now one of the longest standing providers of apprenticeships in the UK, having delivered them in partnership with Government since 2006.
    2. In 2019, we announced plans to double the number of apprenticeships in the UK, with 750 new programme spaces and £2 million worth of opportunities for new and current employees using the apprenticeship levy.
    3. Over 18,600 apprentices have qualified at McDonald’s to date and since 2009, 186 employees have also been able to gain a Foundation Degree accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University while working at McDonald’s.

 

  1. Young people can also find fulfilling work and support elsewhere in our supply chain. Every year we offer around nine young farmers a one-year placement in our supply chain as part of our Progressive Young Farmers programme, working with a host farmer as well as some of the UK’s leading food-supply companies. Our trainees develop in-depth experience in sectors such as beef, pork, potatoes, fresh produce, dairy and poultry farming – as well as an understanding of the whole agricultural supply chain.

 

Training and progression

  1. At McDonald’s we are committed not only to getting people into work, but to helping them flourish. You don’t need any qualifications to become a crew member at McDonald’s and we pride ourselves on recruiting based on ability, not qualifications. We provide appropriate training at every level to help our people succeed in their career.

 

  1. We are immensely proud of our ‘crew member to board member’ ethos, with nine out of ten of our restaurant managers, and one in five of our franchisees, having started out as crew members behind the counter or in the kitchens. Additionally, one third of our executive team started their career in one of our restaurants.

 

  1. Training and development is at the core of that ethos, and we invest well over £43 million every year in training our people. This means they are equipped with opportunities to learn and grow and can be better equipped to succeed in wherever their future careers lead them.

 

  1. Every person working at McDonald’s has the opportunity to take part in structured training, whether it’s in customer service, teamwork or financial management. Additionally, employees can achieve an array of qualifications with us, including apprenticeships which range from level 2 to level 7.

 

Community

  1.         We also want to recognise the work our franchisees do to support their local communities and to tackle youth unemployment in their areas. We strongly believe that community led action is essential to tackling youth unemployment and are proud of the difference being made by so many McDonald’s workers in their local areas.

 

  1.         One example we’d like to highlight is John Kiely, one of our franchise owners, who was awarded an MBE last year for his philanthropic work in supporting disadvantaged young people. John supports the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre to help their young people - who may have no work experience or basic English skills - gain the required skills to secure a job and contribute to society. Many people who have used the centre have in fact secured a job at across his franchises. People like John are at the centre of McDonald’s work, providing opportunities for those in need, and making their communities a better place to live and work.

 

 

 

Specific Committee Questions

 

What are the main challenges facing young people seeking employment today?

  1.         The pandemic and resulting lockdowns risk leaving young people facing huge barriers to entering the workplace and have seriously harmed the hospitality industry, which overwhelmingly employs young people. In the hospitality sector, revenue fell by 85% in the first half of 2020, with the industry facing losses of £7.8 billion in Christmas sales alone. This has threatened job stability for the thousands of young people employed in the sector, and we know that recovery will be a difficult and slow process.

 

  1.         The pandemic will have a huge impact on young people with fewer employment opportunities available to them and a lack of work experience offering practical training to help them get into work. A recent YouGov poll showed that more than three in five employers that offer work experience and internships have cancelled placements because of the pandemic.

 

  1.         To address some of these barriers to entering the workplace, we work closely with schools, parents and educational organisations to provide training, careers services, work experience and mentoring. These are all aimed at giving school leavers the best opportunity at entering the world of work and developing their careers.

 

  1.         As part of our Youth Opportunity Strategy we have developed an online, virtual work experience programme in partnership with Youth Employment UK, that will closely simulate the experiences young people would have if they were able to access practical work experience or some form of part-time/Saturday job. It will be available to all young people aged 14-24 in the UK and we hope to create a hybrid version of this programme with a more ‘hands on’ experience when restrictions allow.

 

What future social, economic and technological changes are likely to impact youth unemployment? What impact might these changes have, and how should this be planned for and addressed?

  1.         We recognise the wide range of challenges faced by young people as result of the Covid-19 pandemic and we are already exploring ways of mitigating those challenges now, and for the future. Fewer work experience opportunities, the reduced number of hospitality jobs and the potential impact on soft skills and personal interactions due to virtual working are all likely to impact young people more than any other group.

 

  1.         As we look to the future, we are committed to developing our teams’ digital skillsets and are preparing our workforce for an increasingly automated future. At McDonald’s, we have developed a curriculum of online learning that encourages our people to be immersed in the technology we use in our restaurants, including whenever they are training and learning.

 

  1.         This commitment to digital is reflected across our training programmes. By providing tech-enhanced training programmes and focusing on improving digital skill sets within their teams, we are confident we are upskilling and preparing our people for the future.

 

  1.         We are working on more new initiatives to help young people emerge from the pandemic with the skills and experiences needed to progress in their careers. We hope to be able to say more about those plans later this year.

 

Is funding for education, training and skills enough to meet the needs of young people and of the labour market? How can we ensure it continues to reach those who need it most?

  1.         McDonald’s works closely with the Department for Work Pensions to participate in schemes such as the ‘Sector-based work academy programme’ (SWAP) which can provide young people with support into work. The scheme provides pre-employment training, dedicated work experience schemes and interview support — three key skill areas needed to help young people into the job market.

 

  1.         We would welcome any additional funding needed to establish further programmes similar to SWAP that will help more young people get the guidance and support they need to find the right employment for them.

 

  1.         We recognise the value of careers advice given to school pupils as one of the most important ways of educating young people, especially those not wanting to move into higher education, in the wide range of potential careers they could have. We would welcome any further support needed to ensure schools can continue to offer high quality careers advice to their pupils as they consider their future career path.

 

What can be done to ensure that enough apprenticeship and traineeship placements are available for young people? Is the apprenticeship levy the right way to achieve a continuing supply of opportunities?

  1.         As an employer of many young people, we highly value apprenticeships and the excellent opportunities they offer young people to enter the world of work. We fully support the Government’s clear commitment to extend their availability, as we are now one of the longest standing providers of apprenticeships in the UK, having delivered them in partnership with Government since 2006.

 

  1.         McDonald’s has an ambitious apprenticeship scheme, which has seen over 18,600 employees gain the necessary skills to progress in their careers. We also run a programme offering school leaver degree apprenticeships. This is a 5-year programme open to internal and external candidates, during which apprentices complete a level 3 in Hospitality Supervision and then a level 6 Chartered Manager Degree with Manchester Metropolitan University.

 

  1.         However, it is important the Government gives more clarity over the future of the levy, and ensures it is applied in a consistent way in the future. Businesses want to provide opportunities to young people but need greater certainty around Government funding and initiatives so they can plan and invest fully.

 

  1.         Most importantly, we need greater flexibility in how the money from the levy can be used. This could be extended to costs including travel and accommodation, or, allowed to be used for additional training and re-visiting courses during employment. Like many large employers, we believe we offer a strong training and development programme, and the apprenticeships we offer are a great addition.

 

What economic sectors present opportunities for sustainable, quality jobs for young people? How can we ensure these opportunities are capitalised on and that skills meet demand, particularly for green jobs?

  1.         The hospitality sector remains one of the most important industries in tackling youth unemployment. It attracts and encourages people from all backgrounds with varying skill-sets, and allows for people to gain employment no matter their previous experience. We believe the industry will be crucial in assisting the UK’s post Covid-19 economy as well as supporting young people into employment.

 

Conclusion

  1.         McDonald’s is committed to tackling youth unemployment. As one of the UK’s largest employers of young people, we are proud to support the youth of today in giving them the best possible start to their careers. Our jobs are focused heavily on training and development, so that every young person we employ, no matter their experience level, can improve their skills and thrive in the workplace. Our ongoing strategy of job-readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development programmes will be essential in helping young people bounce back post-Covid-19, and aiding the UK’s economic recovery.

 

  1.         But we know we don’t have all the answers right now. We are working hard to develop new and exciting programmes that will help more and more young people across the UK get the experience, skills and training needed to progress in their careers.

 

  1.         We are grateful for the opportunity to respond to this Committee’s Call for Evidence and we would be happy engage further with this Committee on this important issue.

 

 

10th May 2021