Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to add 20,000 new employees for its busy season starting in March.
The Newport Beach-based restaurant chain (NYSE: CMG), which currently counts over 130,000 people companywide, said it wants to “ensure its more than 3,700 restaurants are fully staffed for ‘burrito season.’”
Chipotle reported promoting 23,000 employees in 2024 and said its staff has the potential to become a restaurateur, a high-level general manager, within three and a half years.
“As current team members have demonstrated, our restaurants can be the foundation of a fulfilling career, and we’re committed to bringing in the best candidates who share our values and onboarding them as efficiently as possible,” Chief Human Resources Officer Ilene Eskenazi said in a statement.
The company also plans to put its recently introduced AI assistant ‘Ava Cado’ to use during the application and hiring process. Ava Cado, created via a partnership with Paradox, uses conversational AI to chat with candidates.
Chipotle shares are down 2.1% to $52.65 during midday trading with a market cap of $71 billion.
