Fast Food Jobs

Fast Food Jobs Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants, represent one of the largest sectors of the food industry. Fast-food restaurants range in size from a single establishment to huge franchised corporations such as McDonalds. The top companies are McDonald's Corporation, Pizza Hut, Inc., YUM! Brands Inc., The Wendy's Company, Burger King and Chick-fil-A. The United States is the world's largest fast food market.

International fast food companies, including YUM! Brands and McDonald's have been more successful than other fast food companies because explosive growth in emerging markets has offset rising costs and a slowdown in sales in the United States. Some companies such as Domino's and Sonic use new marketing campaigns and product innovation to increase growth and profitability. Many fast food companies are trying to increase revenue by offering high-margin and nontraditional menu items.

Fast Food Employment - Employer Reviews

Fast Food Restaurant Industry Facts

There are more than 200,000 fast food restaurants in the United States (Hoovers, 2010 report)
The industry gross product: $52,171.2 (in millions), (IBISWorld, 2011 report)
Industry revenues: About $161,992.9 (in millions), (IBISWorld, 2011 report)
The largest 50 companies account for approximately 20 percent of the market (Hoovers 2010 report)
McDonald's sales 24,074.6 million (Hoovers, 2011 report)

Fast Food Restaurant Industry Employment Background

There are no formal educational requirements, most skills are learned on-the-job. Fast food restaurants provide training with cash registers and computerized order taking systems. Training programs last from two days to two weeks. Many fast food employees are full-time students and homemakers. Some state laws require workers to provide health certificates stating they don't have any communicable diseases.

Basically, fast food workers prepare and serve food, ensure the customers are satisfied and keep the fast food restaurant clean. In some franchises employees are trained to perform all the jobs in the restaurant, whereas in others they learn to perform a specific task.

Employees with ability and enthusiasm can acquire a shift lead job and work their way up to an assistant manager or a manager position. Companies provide training for management positions. Managers oversee the operations of the restaurant, hire employees and make sure the customers are satisfied. They focus on maintaining a great working environment and cost-efficiency.

Fast Food Restaurant Industry Employment Statistics

Number of employees: 3,426,126 (IBISWorld, 2011 report)
Total wages: $43,296.7 (in millions), (IBISWorld, 2011 report)
Since 2009 the number of job listings with the term fast food has increased by 36 percent (simplyhired.com)
McDonald's number of employees in 2010: 400,000 (Hoovers 2010 report)
YUM! Brand number of employees in 2010: 378,000 employees (Hoovers 2010 report)

Fast Food Restaurant Employment Outlook

The fast food industry has a high turnover rate so job seekers have a good chance of getting a job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 14 percent employment growth for fast food workers from 2008 to 2018. The BLS expects the creation of 443,300 new fast food jobs during this timeframe. The limited service eating places sector, including fast food restaurants and full-service restaurants, employs almost two-thirds of all the restaurant managers. Although the BLS does not provide specific employment growth data for fast food managers, the BLS projects a five percent employment growth for food service managers, which includes fast food restaurant managers.