Albany McDonald’s offers $1000 sign-on bonus for new employees amid staffing crisis

McDonald’s Albany is offering a sign-on bonus of $1000 for new employees who apply in August, as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on staff levels. Albany McDonald’s owner Darren Tyrrell said he hoped the offer would attract “some good quality candidates to join our business”. “Like most other businesses in town, we’ve experienced some difficulty in finding people,” Mr Tyrrell said. “Within McDonald’s, August is traditionally what we term as our ‘people month’ — it’s a reminder to acknowledge and reward our staff. “So this is really part of that initiative, we want to attract really good quality candidates, particularly for the day crew.” Mr Tyrrell said there were positions open across daytime and overnight shifts as well as barista positions. He said the $1000 sign-on bonus would be paid out as $100 a week for the first 10 weeks of a new crew member’s employment. Any new casual, part-time or full-time staff member who applies for a position in August would be eligible for the bonus. “It’s only been going for about a week or so, and we’ve certainly seen an increase in applications, but we’re really encouraging people over the remaining two weeks (of August) to apply for a great job at Maccas,” Mr Tyrrell said. The offer comes after Albany’s McDonald’s stores faced staffing shortages in May due to a wave of COVID infections and the close contact isolation rules which were in place. At the time, the Albany McDonald’s store, ordinarily open 24-hours, was forced to close overnight for what Mr Tyrrell said was the first time other than on Christmas Day. “At the moment I’ve got 26 people out that have contracted COVID. I’ve got not quite that number who are COVID-related, close contacts or have symptoms or are awaiting test results,” Mr Tyrrell said on May 24. This situation has improved since then, but Mr Tyrrell said the business was still grappling with staffing issues. “It’s probably not as bad as what it was ... but yeah, we’re certainly feeling the effects of COVID still,” he said. He said he hoped the $1000 sign-on bonus would make the business more resilient to COVID pressures. While the offer was due to close at the end of August, it could be extended it more staff were needed. “Extra numbers mean more people that can work, or are available to work,” he said. The Albany McDonald’s offer is the latest example of businesses putting extra money on the line to lure workers amid WA’s staff shortage. In June, it was reported that Chicken Treat in South Hedland was offering up to $130,000 plus extras for a store manager. In March, a barista position in Broome was advertised with a salary package of $92,000.