Chipotle Hiring Alert: 15,000 New Employees Needed Ahead of Burrito Season

The football season may be winding down, but burrito season is on the way.

According to Chipotle, that’s the busiest time of the year — from March to May — when many of us are more than happy to scarf down a burrito or two. With that, the fast-food chain is planning to hire 15,000 new employees in preparation for the coming burrito storm.

“Our restaurant teams are the core of this organization and with a goal of more than doubling our footprint to 7,000 locations in North America, we are targeting employees today to serve as our leaders of tomorrow,” said Scott Boatwright, chief restaurant officer. “We will continue bringing in new crew to support Chipotle’s aggressive growth plans, while simultaneously promoting and upskilling those currently in role.”

It’s also all part of a larger campaign in which Chipotle plans to “pull back the foil” and feature behind-the-scenes footage of the daily culinary tasks of its restaurant employees in video clips and documentary-style television spots.

The chain also plans on highlighting employees’ career progression inside Chipotle. The company said 90% of all restaurant management roles were internal promotions in 2022. Overall, Chipotle promoted 22,000 employees internally.

The hiring announcement comes as the restaurant industry continues to fight a labor shortage post-pandemic. According to the National Restaurant Association, 62% of restaurant owners said they didn’t have enough employees to support existing demand in November 2022. The industry has slowly added jobs since the height of the pandemic, but overall employment is still down nearly 500,000 since February 2020.

If you’re looking to get in on the burrito action, visit Chipotle’s career page.

Robert Bruce is a senior staff writer at The Penny Hoarder covering earning, saving and managing money. He has written about personal finance for more than a decade.