Free Republic

Fast food giant McDonald's is being swamped by more than 2,200 job applications every day, including from bank workers, graduates and teachers. The level of applications suggests the stigma surrounding the 'McJob' has been swept aside by people who are desperate for work and an income. Figures to be published today are expected to show another surge in unemployment, taking the figure towards the three million mark. While many thousands of university students are currently leaving full-time education carrying huge debts and without any job to go to. Among the few sectors that are bucking the recession and rising unemployment...

As White House chief of staff for almost 5 1/2 years, I faced many significant management challenges. The incoming tasks never seemed to let up and expectations always seemed to exceed realization. I described the job as drinking from a fire hydrant or working a fast-food counter during a lunch-hour rush that never ends. I knew something about life behind the fast-food counter. My first experience was in high school in Brockton, Mass., at the hamburger restaurant Kemps of America, where a meal of a burger, fries and a drink cost about 35 cents. While at the University of South...

<p>Jim Cantalupo has a beef with the editors at Merriam-Webster. It has to do with the new entry for "McJob" in the 11th edition of their collegiate dictionary, which, as the nearby graphic makes clear, defines the term as a dead-end occupation. That has the McDonald's CEO sizzling mad.</p>