McDonald’s Sweden Takes a Stand for Swedish Youth, and Encourages Companies to Open Doors for Them

The pandemic has made it harder than ever for youths to enter the job market. And if that wasn’t enough, the young generation has become the target for adults accusing them of being irresponsible and abnormally selfish. As one of Sweden’s biggest youth employers, McDonald’s Sweden knows that these preconceptions are old news. For every young generation, new unflattering preconceptions occur, and through the years McDonald’s Sweden has looked beyond these stereotypes and continued to give young people jobs and responsibility at young ages. 

Despite the global effects of the pandemic, McDonald’s Sweden will give over 10 000 young people a chance to enter the job market in the next few years. At the same time the company’s expansion will lead to over 2 000 new job opportunities all over the country. However, they cannot tackle youth unemployment on their own. And that’s why they are calling for the rest of the Swedish business sector to join them and open the door for the next generation. The campaign was launched with a cover and new interpretation of the Swedish classic “Open your door” by Tommy Nilsson, performed by a choir of teenagers. At the same time McDonald’s Sweden has shared their experiences from over 40 years as a youth employer by a model of how to educate new, young employees on mcdonalds.se. In the near future, an in-depth report on what the situation for young people is like will be published, including what preconceptions they are facing, and how employers can make the most of the new generations competence.  

“We are proud to be able to employ thousands of youths this summer, despite the pandemic. We hope that more companies will have the opportunity to do the same. It is incredibly important to give the young generation a sense of hope for the future”, says Staffan Ekstam, marketing & communications director at McDonald’s Sweden.

The film shows young people from different generations, growing up during different centuries, and what preconceptions they had to face. Representing the youth of today was, among others, the beauty influencer Felicia Aveklew and TikTok profile Liam Kalevi who also will be producing their own material for the campaign.

When launching the campaign, CEO of McDonald’s Sweden, Joachim Knudsen, wrote an open letter to the Swedish business sector, published in one of Sweden’s biggest financial newspapers, Dagens Industri.