McDonald’s Canada held it’s second National Hiring Day on April 11. The all-day hiring blitz took place across all of Canada with the intention of creating 4,500 jobs, with 300 of those in Manitoba.

Last year the Thompson McDonald’s franchise conducted 35 interviews and hired 15 new employees, and were aiming at hitting similar numbers this year.

With a large youth population in Thompson, McDonald’s stands as a cornerstone for entry level work for youth looking for their first jobs. Seventy-five per cent of McDonald’s workforce in Canada is under the age of 24.

Brett O’Meara, who own the McDonald’s franchise here, says that the company is in the middle of a re-imaging, lending to the attraction of working for the restaurant chain.

“McDonald’s is taking on that espresso-based culture now with our McCafe menu and now with the new smoothies,” said O’Meara “it’s kind of getting away from that get in and get out burger shop. With changing the image it brings in a bigger array of customers and we therefore need a bigger workforce.”

There are over 1,400 McDonald’s locations Canadawide, and Thompson’s location is one of the busiest. In December, McDonald’s Thompson broke the Canadian record for most McCafe products sold in a week by actually doubling the record of 1,400 and selling over 3,000 products in one week.

The impressive sales figures, coupled with an image makeover, has McDonald’s positioned as a much more attractive work option than it may have previously been.

“This goes back to re-imaging again,” said O’Meara, “we see a change in the people coming in, it’s now a place to sit down and enjoy yourself, and it reflects in our employees, they take more pride in the job they are doing.”

The change over from burger shop to a restaurant/café image is phase one of an overhaul, with phase two to commence in August that will feature changes to the parking lot, the addition of a second drive-through order lane, and changes to the exterior of the restaurant.

National Hiring Day attracts a large quantity of youth looking to enter the workforce, but is also open to those looking to expand their experience or jump into a different line of work or even just pick up another source of income.

“We’re hiring for all positions, whether it be full time, part time, management, we’re looking at everything,” said O’Meara, “We actually hired someone just today, he’s 18 years old and out of school and came in looking for full- time employment.”

Job experience and education are important assets to possess when applying for a job, but O’Meara says that the McDonald’s mantra is to hire employees with the right attitude.

“We want those people who are eager to work and want to get in there and hit the ground running. We have the tools to train these people, so whether they have experience or not, we’ll hire a person if they are ready to learn.”