Restaurant jobs are known for being particularly grueling work environments. The hours are long, you’re constantly on your feet, and it really only takes one difficult customer to ruin an employee’s day. That’s why it can be hard for employers to convince prospective workers to apply. But Chipotle $CMG is trying a new strategy to get the freshest faces in the workforce, Gen Z, to apply for its jobs: by offering mental health support services.
Will mental health perks be enough to attract employees to Chipotle?
Spring, for Chipotle, is historically a busy season: The chain gets slammed during “burrito season,” which occurs between March through May. That’s why Chipotle has added new perks to lure a target goal of 19,000 new people to work at its stores, and Morning Brew notes that one of those perks includes a particularly Gen Z–adjacent benefit: mental health support.
The service comes in the form of six free sessions with a mental health professional. It’s an interesting approach for capturing Gen Z’s attention, though a hard stop at six sessions feels a little shaky, knowing that mental health treatment can be a long-term, continuous process.
Chipotle’s financial perks to new hires
For students, Chipotle is tacking on a supplemental 4% of an employee’s salary through 401(k) contributions, provided they make student loan payments. It’s also offering access to a Visa $V credit card, Cred.ai, which is specifically designed to help users build a credit score without fees or interest bogging them down.
The company is also offering access to SoFi, an online personal finance company and online bank. With these perks aimed at those interested in building a credit score, you can probably read between the lines as to whom Chipotle really wants behind the counter.
It’ll be interesting to see if this kind of thing helps Chipotle achieve its goal of beefing up its frontline employees by 19,000 people (with a current workforce of about 110,000, according to its press release). Sometimes the perks can make the difference, if every employer is offering comparable pay.
But working at Chipotle does sound like it can get pretty rough. Customers can be the biggest hazard, as in the case of this customer throwing a burrito bowl in an employee’s face. Will six sessions with a mental health counselor convince someone to work in that environment? We won’t know until so-called burrito season begins.