If you think things here are bad think of our overseas cousins in McDonalds(Australia)! I understand that in order to even get a job on the deep fat fryer over there you need to have gained considerable time washing lettuce, slicing the buns and cleaning the milkshake machine. I've heard of people being stuck emptying the service area bins for years before they even got into the store! Since they only have a small population there are very few fast food joints to choose from, McDonalds being the largest and most prestigious, the smaller operators tend to go out of business quite quickly and the low cost "Express" places can only survive in the big cities.
Not only that but should you come to the UK your Ozzie grill and fryer ratings have to be converted to European Gold Stars, just dealing with the BCL (Burger Crew Licensing) dept requires you to be able to write in boxes on forms!
As for burger flipping opportunites on the continent, there are few. Due to the special types of product sold, for example in France the Big Horse(tm), Rabbit Nuggets and the ever popular McSnail, english burger flippers are not considered to be adequately trained, even if they do have a 4 Stars.
Another problem we lettuce washers face is that when 4 star holders and asssistant-deputy-vice-managers retire from McDonalds they can get burger flipping positions in smaller chains like Kentucky and Wimpy although I understand most prefer to go to Burger King due to the similar working practices and all their mates are there. There are also those burger wannabes who are prepared to pay not only for their stars but also to work flipping burgers for free til they have built up enough experience to either be hired by that restaurant or move on to another one.
Our biggest threat however is from flippers coming into this country and getting jobs in outfits like Dallas Chicken and Ribs who are prepared to use untrained flippers or foreign non JBA (Joint Burger Authority) flippers on extended validations. These restaurants work their employees to the full extent of BTL (burger time limitations) on long, 24 hour/7 days a week shift patterns to the extent that a serious accident on the chip fryer or the grill is imminent in my opinion.
nb this post is a joke. It does not reflect the views of the author or the PPRuNe management. All copyright and trademarks are acknowledged