The Golden Arches Are Getting Some Gray on Top

They call it the gray McDonald’s, not because employees wear different uniforms, but because so many older people work there.

Under the golden arches at the restaurant on Valley Parkway, the employee in the blue-striped outfit manning the counter or flipping burgers on the grill is often no fresh-faced kid.

Jobs once held almost exclusively by teen-agers are being given to their parents and even some senior citizens.

At age 72, Bill Courton, or “Mr. C” as the younger workers call him, is the restaurant’s oldest employee.

“I’ll be here as long as I’m able,” Courton said. “I enjoy contact with people, and a little extra money doesn’t hurt, either.”

Wears Pointed Cap

In the mornings you can find Courton, a McDonald’s pointed cap sitting atop his gray head, giving directions to the cook:

“Hot cakes, that’s a side o’ cakes,” he calls to the kitchen.

At 50, an age when most people think about ending their careers, Courton started his at McDonald’s. A former carhop, Courton had worked before with customers who wanted their eats in a hurry.

“It’s all I knew,” he said.

He was McDonald’s day manager from 1967 to 1978.

“Then I decided to retire,” he said. “It lasted a little while.”

Retirement ended when McDonald’s offered him a part-time job, with a guarantee he wouldn’t have to work weekends. It’s an offer the restaurant uses to attract many of its adult employees.

Unlike Courton, most older employees have never served fast food, and at first they struggle to keep up.

Spotted Poster

Margaret McGhee, 54, was having lunch with her daughter at McDonald’s when she spotted a poster promoting adult day shifts. Until she started the job in November, she’d never been on the other side of a fast-food counter.

“After I got used to the pace, it was OK,” she said.

In a rare break between a seemingly endless flow of customers, she relaxed while a younger employee gave her a sympathetic back rub.

“Staying on my feet is the hardest part,” she said.

Yet she and her contemporaries have found the work is worth a pair of sore feet at the end of the day.

“Most of us need the money, and the hours are convenient,” McGhee said. They’re willing to work for the same money as their teen-age co-workers, starting at minimum wage if they have little or no experience. They can earn up to $6.50 an hour.

Corporation Policy

McDonald’s Corp. encourages all its franchise owners to hire seniors, said Clyde Kintz, supervisor of the McDonald’s. Each quarter, the regional office sends out letters with information on how to recruit older workers, encouraging management to attend social functions aimed at seniors.

Parents and seniors now make up more than half of the workforce at the Valley Parkway restaurant. Fourteen employees are over 30, and of those, the majority are 45 to retirement age.

The graying of the fast-food industry stems from a shortage of teen-age labor that began several years ago, and the recognition that mature employees can do chicken and everything else right.

“There’s also a pride in what they’re doing,” said Elaine Scott, assistant manager of the restaurant. “It doesn’t matter if they’re sweeping a floor or cooking a burger.”

Move More Slowly

These fast-food employees move a little more slowly than their younger co-workers. But what they lack in speed they make up for in dedication and consistency.

“They’re much more reliable,” said Kintz, who at 59 is no spring chicken himself. “They’re not running to the beach, and their grandmother doesn’t die three times a year.”

Older workers go through the same training as the younger employees, viewing videotapes on how to make burgers and fries.

“Often, their hardest task is learning to work the computers, with all the little deals you push,” Courton said.

The older employees are good for business, too.

“We’ve exposed them,” Kintz said. “We’ve put them in front instead of back in the kitchen.”