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Chipotle to hire 15,000 workers amid expansion

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss the rise in stock for Chipotle following news that the fast food chain is aiming to hire 15,000 workers amid expansion across the U.S. and Canada.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

BRIAN SOZZI: Chipotle announced it's looking to hire 15,000 new workers across the US from March through May, the restaurant chains busiest time of year. Chipotle said staffing is still above prepandemic levels with a total headcount of over 100,000 workers. This hiring spree comes as the chain expands in Canada and throughout the US.

And Brad, when I saw this news, I thought back to when we talked to Brian Niccol, the CEO of Chipotle, at our All Market Summit a couple of months ago. They're opening 200-plus restaurants a year. So I am not surprised that he needs these workers just to staff new restaurants.

And if you're opening these new restaurants, you need more workers in your supply chain to support those restaurants. Chipotle remains one of the more aggressive chains in opening up new locations throughout this country.

BRAD SMITH: And they've been brilliant about the technology strategy there. And I think that this speaks to where they're looking to not just hire to bolster the ability to open more locations, should they choose different geographies to move into. But also, how they enhance the customer experience within that, too.

You go into many Chipotles and you know exactly where that line is at because that line sometimes is going out the door, sometimes it's overcrowded. And I think being able to decrease the amount of time to actually fulfill, similar to one of the metrics that Starbucks tracks, just time to make a cup of coffee.

Time to make a bowl, or a taco, or a quesadilla, or a burrito, or whatever people are going in there for. If you can decrease that amount of time, you can make sure that you're moving through more orders enhance the customer experience there, as well. And just create more employment opportunities for people, too.

JULIE HYMAN: And again, it is a good reminder here. Yes, you're not making the same as you are, you know, making burritos at Chipotle as you are coding at one of these tech giants, but nonetheless, the economy is not collapsing if a Chipotle is hiring 15,000 people.

BRIAN SOZZI: I appreciate that optimism. You're Chipotle fan, right? You had a bowl from there.

JULIE HYMAN: Of course.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, dig it. All right.

BRAD SMITH: By the way, I wanted to correct something that I mentioned earlier, too. Because you asked about if it's better to file for severance or if you can file for unemployment, rather, if you're still receiving severance, and the answer is it really kind of varies by state, too.

JULIE HYMAN: Right, OK.

BRAD SMITH: And so at the state level, it might be more advantageous for people to ask for that payment up front as a lump sum and then file for unemployment. There's various amount of ways to go about that. But just wanted to provide that clarity, as well.

JULIE HYMAN: Thank you for the clarity.