Since the beginning of the pandemic, the restaurant industry has been grappling with ongoing staffing shortages. However, in the face of this challenge, one McDonald’s franchise has taken a controversial approach, attempting to address the problem with an unconventional, not to mention potentially illegal, measure. Now, the restaurant is stirring up online backlash.
This McDonald’s displayed a sign prohibiting employees from quitting, declaring itself a ‘no-quit restaurant.’ Of course, this caused widespread outrage, especially from the larger community of food workers.
The crazy thing is that turnover is an inherent aspect of running a McDonald’s or any fast-food franchise, for that matter. The industry is notorious for its transient work culture, and many employees come on board and quit when their lives take them elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, few people view drive-thru operations as a viable long-term career.
Instead of accepting this transient culture as a regular business expense, this McDonald’s decided to take a different approach by creating and displaying a “no-quit” sign within the restaurant. Essentially, employees working here aren’t allowed to resign without prior approval from management.
Who or what inspired the sign remains unclear, though it appears to be associated with a single McDonald’s franchise, as no one has heard reports of any others. It’s pretty unlikely that a global corporation as large as McDonald’s would endorse such a boldly unconventional approach to their quitting policy.
Nevertheless, the sign has been an absolute shock to people across the internet.
The employees at this particular location must meet with McDonald’s management to address their reasons for quitting. The statement that they put out seems appreciative, as they begin by saying that the company values the employees, their growth, and the contributions that they make day in and day out. However, when they start to get assertive with the concept of being a “no-quit restaurant,” which is a term we can’t say we’ve ever heard before and was likely invented by this particular McDonald’s, the tone changes.
The fact that you have to speak with a restaurant manager or area supervisor so that THEY can decide whether or not you’re able to move on with your life is a backward approach to management.
According to the restaurant, the reason the sign exists is that there are many different “situations” that lead to employee resignation, many of which can “be resolved.”
However, the issue lies in the fact that the reasons prompting someone to quit a fast food job, or whatever job they have, should be considered private and personal matters.
The looming presence of this sign triggered a wave of anger on social media, and people were taken aback by the audacity of this McDonald’s management. One woman shared her perspective on TikTok, questioning how the restaurant’s owners could claim that “all can be resolved” when the CEO of the company earns a hundred times what their low-level employees make.
