Raising Cane's Once Tried To Hire 10,000 Employees In 50 Days

In 2021, many restaurants were having a hard time finding staff, despite the still-ongoing pandemic leaving millions unemployed. By August, the food service industry had lost 42,000 workers, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics — but this didn't stop one chicken chain from attempting a massively optimistic hiring spree. Raising Cane's, a company that was expected to fail, had a huge expansion planned for 2022 and announced a plan to hire 10,000 new employees for its stores in just 50 days, bringing its number of hired staff to 50,000. To aid reaching this goal, the chain sent corporate employees to work in restaurants.

In October of 2021, 50% of Raising Cane's corporate staff were working as cashiers, recruiters, and fry cooks at understaffed locations. The office staff included members of the field team (marketing and training employees) and vice presidents. There were incentives, and the locations that recruited the most (new) employees were rewarded. This resulted in not just meeting the 50,000-employee goal but exceeding it — the company actually wound up with 53,000 new employees in just 48 days.

Along with having some of the best marinated chicken around, Raising Cane's also appears to care about its employees. When COVID hit in 2020, 33 of Raising Cane's non-drive thru locations closed temporarily, but the company did not furlough any employees. Instead, it adopted a "no crew member left behind" mindset. At one of these closed locations, employees still showed up for work — except now, the work was sewing face masks with company-provided sewing machines, to help with facial covering shortages at nearby hospitals.

In 2021, Raising Cane's also invested $25 million in wages, which included raises for managers and hourly employees. In addition to this, it added new internal promotions and 401k plans. An employee on Reddit revealed staff is not required to work any major holidays, either. And as of 2023, the company had raised its average wage amount to $19.50 per hour. It would seem that, at Raising Cane's, you're eating fast food chicken tenders that come with a side of integrity.