SCRANTON, Pa. — Eunice Calixto pulls double duty. She works at the drive-thru at McDonald's in South Scranton, and she's also a student at Lackawanna College.
It's a lot to juggle, so when she found out, her employer would now be covering the cost of her tuition.
"I was about to cry. Like honestly, I was so happy. I was like, is this actually real?"
It's real, and it's for all employees, new and old, at the 14 franchises owned by the Mueller family in Northeastern PA. It's a way to attract new employees while also making college more affordable.
"The staffing shortage has been severe due to COVID and multiple other reasons. It doesn't look like it's supposed to improve any time soon, so we're trying to come up with out-of-the-box ways to engage people," said Christina Mueller-Curran.
The owners here have tried everything: higher wages, sign-on bonuses, etc.- but nothing worked quite like free tuition.
"The response has been amazing. We're totally blown away. We did not expect the response we've been getting, so we're really excited," said Mueller-Curran.
In 24 hours, the Muellers have already gotten close to 80 applications. They usually average around two to three a week.
So the incentive is helping current employees like Eunice Calixto in more ways than one.
"In the front, like at the counter, they really need the help because it gets very busy in there," Calixto said.
Employees have to work at McDonald's for at least 90 days before the free tuition kicks in, and you have to average at least 16 hours a week at Lackawanna College.
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