Opening doors to jobs

We aim to help one million people in our communities gain new skills and open doors through training, work experience and equal employment opportunities.

Our commitment and goals

Ongoing: By 2024 support youth services through every restaurant

Achieved: By 2025 have supported 3,000 apprentices

By 2030 help one million people gain new skills and open doors to jobs

Delivering on our commitments

We believe in championing great people, whatever their background – and helping to open doors to skills, jobs, and opportunities. We understand that not everyone has the same start in life, so we’ve set a goal of helping one million people into training, jobs or new opportunities by 2030. To us, that’s not just a number. That’s one million lives that we can help to change for the better.

Two McDonald's crew members working in McDonald's restaurant.

Giving young people confidence and skills

Through our presence in towns and cities across the UK and Ireland, we have always sought to help people access opportunities and make the most of their potential. Our Plan for Change goal to support youth services through every restaurant is taking this to a new level. By supporting young people’s emotional, educational and social development we want to give them confidence and skills that they can take forward in life and work.

To support this commitment, we’ve harnessed our partnership with Children in Need to run trials with some of our restaurants to really understand what our communities need and how we can make the biggest difference. In 2024, we rolled out our Makin' It Programme and have been working with BBC Children in Need to scale up the matching of our restaurants to local projects and partners and measure our impact.

As we bring new partners on board we’re excited about the difference we can help to make to young people’s futures by harnessing the passions of the people across our restaurants.

McDonald's apprentice badge with four gold stars

Expanding our apprenticeship programme

At McDonald’s, we believe in unlocking potential and creating opportunities for everyone. Since launching our Apprenticeship Programme in 2006, we’ve supported over 22,000 individuals in kickstarting their careers – including over 3,600 apprentices between 2018 and December 2024 alone.

Our programme offers opportunities for every restaurant role, as well as corporate apprenticeships in areas such as project management, data science, and human resources. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your career, our apprenticeships provide the skills, experience, and confidence to succeed.

We’re proud to be recognised as a top employer for apprenticeships, consistently earning national accolades. In 2025, McDonald’s was ranked 9th in the Department for Education’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers our second consecutive year in the top 10. We’re also celebrating the achievements of our talented apprentices, with two shortlisted for the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards and one finalist for the National Apprenticeship Awards in 2024.

In February 2025, we marked National Apprenticeship Week with a dynamic series of audio-visual podcasts. These featured inspiring stories from current apprentices, insights from our external training providers, and reflections from our dedicated Apprentice Mentors—offering a behind-the-scenes look at life as a McDonald’s apprentice.

We also hosted Open Days for our corporate teams, giving colleagues the chance to explore apprenticeship opportunities through interactive games, prizes, and branded merchandise.

In July, we held our annual McDonald’s Apprenticeship Celebration Ceremony – a highlight of our calendar. This event honours the achievements of our degree graduates, as well as the winners and finalists of our internal Apprenticeship Awards. It’s a moment to recognise those who go above and beyond, and to celebrate the powerful impact apprenticeships have on our people and our business.

Food and Farming Careers

Our focus on great people extends to our supply chain as well. We work with over 29,000 British and Irish farmers, helping them through our Farm Forward programme to build sustainable businesses, for themselves and for the planet. It’s not just about people who are already farmers either. By 2030, we aim to kick-start over 100 careers in food and farming for young people from diverse backgrounds through our McDonald’s Young Talent programme.

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Picture of McDonald's Assistant Manager Kieran

The people behind our Plan

"The graduate apprenticeship gives us the why behind what we do everyday, day in, day out. Within business management itself, there’s such a broad range of topics. I’m already applying the learnings from the GA programme within my job, helping to leverage talent in the team. There is a lot of work involved, however the rewards are there, and it really does turn a job into a career."

Kieran, Assistant Manager, Wishaw

Helping 1 million people into training, jobs or new opportunities

We’re proud to be able to make a positive impact on the communities where we operate by supporting people into work. In addition to directly employing over 155,000 people, representing a mix of many ages and life stages, we run a range of programmes to help people into work. Since we launched our Plan for Change in 2021 to December 2024, these programmes have helped 367,000 people gain new skills and open doors to jobs.

Since we launched our Plan for Change in 2021 to December 2024, these programmes have helped 367,000 people gain new skills and open doors to jobs.

Our new digital education and skills platform, Taste for Work, launched in September 2023. Created with education experts, it aims to support the transition from school to work by providing vital skills such as communication and goal setting. At the end of 2024 the campaign reached over 165,000 young people in over 850 schools, many in Government-specified education ‘cold spots’, including over 20% serving special educational needs.

McDonald’s ‘Get Job Ready' and Virtual Work Experience websites, delivered with Youth Employment UK, provide free support to build skills and careers confidence. In the first six months of 2023, over 31,000 young people accessed the online courses to help prepare themselves for the world of work.

Two restaurant workers smiling at each other.

Inclusive and diverse

From our senior leaders to our restaurant teams, we aim to reflect the diverse communities we are part of and stand up for individuality and equality. Find out more about our shared commitment with franchisees and suppliers.

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