McDonald’s cuts its restaurant hours in the U.S.

• McDonald’s cuts its restaurant’s hours of operations in the U.S.
• The company has failed to fill vacant positions.
• Although sales are strong, they lack staff.

Will we run out of burgers? McDonald’s has cut its restaurant hours in the US. Apparently this is all due to the spread of Covid-19. The company has tried different strategies, but none have been effective. So now it has made a drastic decision.

The hamburger chain has been dealing with a lack of staff, not only because of the vacant positions that they have not been able to fill, but because of the employees who are continually absent due to the recent increase in Covid cases caused by the Omicron variant.

McDonald’s cuts hours of its restaurants in the U.S.

McDonald’s and franchisees have implemented various strategies to try to attract workers. In fact, they have made efforts to improve working conditions and offer their employees higher salaries with the idea of ​​preventing them from leaving, while also attracting more staff.

However, none of these measures have worked as expected and they continue to have a shortage of people willing to work in their restaurants. And now the news that nobody wanted to hear: McDonald’s has decided to cut back its customer service hours at several locations in the United States.

Adapting to staffing shortages

When the pandemic started and many companies switched to remote work, McDonald’s breakfast sales were seriously affected. But that didn’t hold them back because the company’s key to success has been the ability to adapt to new situations, La opinion shared.

Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s, told the FOX network that it was a priority for the organization to be able to adapt to these changing times for the growth and well-being of the company. Thanks to that, in March 2021, the company managed to reach the level of sales that they had before the pandemic began.

Employees out due to Covid-19

Now there’s a new problem — the shortage of personnel due to the rise in coronavirus infections. Unfortunately, the company has no way of verifying whether or not someone has contracted the virus. Although they have sent Covid-19 tests to all their franchises in case employees need them.

Right now the company is adjusting the operating hours of its establishments to be able to adapt to the situation and continue functioning with the employees they have. We’re talking about McDonald’s having about 800,000 workers across the United States.

To visit McDonald’s…

Before going to the nearest McDonald’s, we recommend checking social media or the company’s website to confirm the new hours. They could vary from one restaurant to another, depending on whether the place where they are located is experiencing more cases of Omicron.

Understaffing isn’t just a McDonald’s problem. For example, Shake Shack restaurants saw productivity drop in December, according to the Wall Street Journal. The same thing has happened at other big chains like Chipotle and Starbucks.

Chipotle and Starbucks also affected by Omicron

Large chains such as Starbucks and Chipotle have reported the need to limit their hours, although they explained that it is a temporary measure and only affects some locations. As with McDonald’s, the decision is due to staff shortages because of Covid-19.

To avoid further spread of coronavirus, and to be able to properly serve their customers, Starbucks and Chipotle are limiting their operating hours and also the number of people who can enter an establishment at one time, reported La opinion.

Contingency measures

Despite the difficulties of not having enough staff, companies have learned from the first months of the pandemic. Thus, Starbucks officials explain that they have invested in the necessary infrastructure that will allow them to continue operating with delivery and take-out services.

That was precisely the route they took. In early 2022, Starbucks changed the way it works at 19 of its locations in Buffalo, New York. For now will only be offering delivery or take-out options due to the number of Covid-19 cases.

Other Starbucks Stores

It’s not just in New York. Starbucks also announced in January that its Boston stores would be take-out only and that they are preparing to require customers to provide proof of vaccination if they want to enter the store, according to city laws.

For now, some Starbucks cafes around the U.S., where there are almost 9,000, have adjusted their operating hours in the hopes of maintaining the safety of both their employees and their customers. McDonald’s reduces the hours of its restaurants in the US.

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