News

McDonald's OKs dividend, expands youth career initiative

July 19, 2019

The world's biggest QSR, McDonald's, said it will pay out a quarterly cash dividend relative to its Q2 financial results. The company board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.16 per share of common stock be paid on Sept. 17 to shareholders as of Sept. 3, a news release said.

The brand also said this week that it has expanded its Youth Opportunity initiative now to Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County, Maryland, following a successful pilot of the pre-employment training initiative in its home base of Chicago with the Interational Youth Foundation. The program seeks to lower employment barriers for about 2 million young people worldwide by 2025 by a combination of pre-employment job readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development, a news release said. 

In the new area for the program, the brand and its local franchisees have invested $200,000 to help a thousand local youth in those areas develop their skills and confidence so they can land entry-level employment in the area, though not specifically with McDonald's, the release said. 

An estimated 63,900 metro Washington, D.C. have issues that block their ability to work or attend school, so McDonald's is working with the Maryland 4-H Foundation, Latin American Youth Center and LAYC Career Academy to provide resources and networks for about 1,000 of those individuals toward obtaining work. 

"McDonald's Youth Opportunity program plays an important role in connecting young people to the local resources and mentorship they need to achieve their potential," McDonald's U.S. Chief People Officer Melissa Kersey, said in the release. "Together with our franchisees, we want youth in the DC-area and across the country to know that we believe in them and are invested in their success whether at McDonald's or elsewhere."