Chipotle is looking to hire 19,000 additional employees for its approaching peak “burrito season,” the company announced Wednesday, as restaurants across the country struggle to fill open roles.
Chipotle says its busiest time of year—or “burrito season”—stretches from March to May.
“Burrito season” runs from March to May and has historically been Chipotle’s busiest time, according to a company statement.
The company typically sees its “highest volumes of sales” during the spring due to “seasonal factors” like weather, Erin Wolford, Chipotle’s vice president of external communications, told Forbes.
Wolford said the 19,000 open jobs include both full- and part-time restaurant positions.
Last year, the company launched a recruitment campaign for 15,000 new positions in anticipation for “burrito season.”
110,000. That’s how many people currently work at Chipotle, the company says.
As of December, the nationwide unemployment rate sat at a very low 3.7%, and many restaurants are struggling to recruit new employees. Despite layoffs from the Covid pandemic, jobs in the hospitality and service industries have largely returned to pre-coronavirus levels, and there were some 979,000 unfilled accommodation and food service jobs as of November. Bank of America’s 2024 outlook for the restaurant industry noted that labor will remain a challenge, but some businesses have adapted by raising wages and other recruitment efforts. Despite the shortages in the industry, some major companies in other sectors—such as Wayfair and Amazon—have cut thousands of jobs in layoffs during the first few weeks of the year.
Chipotle to hire 19,000 additional workers for peak demand season (Reuters)
Restaurants can’t find workers because they’ve found better jobs (The Washington Post)
Wayfair, Google, Amazon Duolingo Cut Hundreds Of Jobs: Here Are The 2024 Tech Layoffs (Forbes)