With customers spending more, restaurants to hire 500,000 in next 12 months

Restaurant and quick service restaurant (QSR) operators in India are on a hiring spree, with plans to add about 500,000 jobs in the next 12 months, reported The Economic Times (ET). Among those looking to open new stores and hire more people are Mamagoto, Wow! Momo, McDonald's and Burger Singh.

The reasons for the growth include an increase in customer spending amid a check on inflationary pressures and expansion in tier-2 and -3 cities, National Restaurants Association of India president Kabir Suri told ET.

While Mamagoto plans to hire about 400 people in the next 12 months, with 20 new stores in the pipeline, Wow! Momo and McDonald's are set to hire 1,200-1,500 people each in the next 12- 15 months. 

Burger Singh also intends to open about 250 new stores and more than double its workforce to 2,500 employees by the end of 2024-25.

Suri, who is also the co-founder of Azure Hospitality, which owns the Mamagoto chain of restaurants, told ET that his company plans to open 20 new outlets in the next year, and hire at least 350-400 new employees.

Currently, Wow! Momo has close to 6,000 employees, having added about 1,500 employees in the past year or so. The company further plans to expand its workforce at the same rate in the next 12 months.

"We will be hiring around 1,500 to 2,000 people in the next 12 months as we continue to grow. Roughly we are looking at opening 200 to 250 stores in the next 12-15 months," Sagar Daryani, CEO, Wow! Momo was quoted as saying by ET.

Westlife Foodworld, which owns and runs McDonald's restaurants in western and southern India, plans to open 40-45 stores every year and reach 580-630 restaurants by 2027 as part of its 'Vision 2027 strategy'.

"To support this vision, we plan to invest Rs 1,400 crore towards expansion and job creation, which will drive our ambitious growth," Saurabh Kalra, managing director, Westlife Foodworld said, adding, "On average, every new store generates about 30-35 new employment positions, which can create approximately 1,200-1,500 jobs every year."