McDonald's franchises look to hire 1,700 in Western Pennsylvania

McDonald’s restaurants across Western Pennsylvania are looking for workers to fill at least 1,700 new full- and part-time jobs, the fast-food giant said in a statement.

Franchisees who operate 112 restaurants in Western Pennsylvania began what McDonald’s called a quick-hire initiative to provide immediate crew and manager positions.

“We are in a very difficult and uncertain time,” McDonald’s franchisee Roy Draper, president of Draper Inc. of Penn Township, said in a statement. “Because the local economy has taken a major hit, we are announcing this initiative to immediately provide work for those who need it most.”

Some of the openings were created when staff at McDonald’s restaurants chose to take a leave of absence because of the covid-19 pandemic, said McDonald’s spokeswoman Kerry Ford. The restaurants are seeing more people seeking employment who might have been working in different jobs prior to the covid-19 restrictions, Ford said.

The hiring initiative will continue for the next few weeks, Ford said.

McDonald’s likely has a large pool of jobless but experienced fast-food restaurant workers from which to choose. There were 12,000 workers unemployed from fast-food restaurants in April in the seven-county Pittsburgh region, according to the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.

Although McDonald’s restaurants were not permitted to have inside seating until the region reached the green phase of the state’s three-tiered reopening plan on June 5, Ford said the restaurants have seen a high amount of online ordering and more customers using drive-thru service.