McDonald's Leads in Employing Severely Disabled Individuals... Expands Staff Hiring

Seoul City Hall branch crew Yoon So-yeon is warmly greeting child customers.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Korea McDonald's announced on the 19th that it will expand the hiring of people with disabilities in the third quarter of this year and continuously create a stable employment environment and corporate culture for employees with disabilities.

Despite the social atmosphere of employment contraction due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Korea McDonald's hired 15 new employees with disabilities in the third quarter of this year and plans to hire an additional 15 employees with disabilities by September this year.

McDonald's, which has an 'open recruitment' culture without discrimination based on academic background, age, gender, or disability, has been leading the employment of people with disabilities since the early 2000s. In particular, it mainly hires people with severe disabilities who find it difficult to be hired by other companies, and to assign tasks suitable for employees with severe disabilities, it developed the 'Maintenance' position responsible for maintaining cleanliness inside the restaurant and managing and maintaining facilities, supporting employees with disabilities to work stably and long-term.

At the beginning of their work, employees with disabilities may experience trial and error or difficulties in direct communication with customers, so non-disabled employees and managers strive to provide continuous help and opportunities to help them learn tasks easily and grow together. As a result of continuous efforts to create a discrimination-free working environment through consideration and respect, currently, 178 employees with disabilities work at McDonald's, and about one-quarter of all employees with severe disabilities have been working long-term for more than 10 years.

Yoon So-yeon, a crew member at the Seoul City Hall branch who has been working for 10 years, said, "The coworkers always treat me kindly, so I feel like family," and added, "Sometimes I get sick regardless of my will, but my colleagues are considerate, and I am most grateful for that." Jang Mi-jung, a crew member at the Busan Togok branch who has been working for 20 years, said, "People with disabilities like me can work steadily, so many people feel hope through me, and I feel great fulfillment here."

A McDonald's official said, "In a 'people-centered' corporate culture that respects diversity and inclusion, we support employees with disabilities to work and grow for a long time," and added, "We will continue to strive to expand employment of people with disabilities and create a discrimination-free employment environment so that people with disabilities can work long-term in a good working environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.