Fast food giant McDonald's has launched a training and lifestyle website to offer its 67,000 UK employees access to GCSE-equivalent qualifications.
The Our Lounge site, launched yesterday (Monday), is designed to help train staff for national Vocational level 1 and 2 qualifications over a 12-month period.
It also offers information and advice on lifestyle issues, such as improving communication skills and becoming a parent.
David Fairhurst, vice-president (people) at McDonald’s, said every employer had a responsibility to provide basic skills training to their staff.
"We can do more to ensure that no-one is held back by not having the basics of literacy and numeracy," he said. "The website brings a new convenience to learning and removes the barrier of travelling to college."
The project is part of the chain's £14m annual training spend, and has been piloted in 20 restaurants since July.
McDonald's estimates that up to 1,000 workers will eventually sign up to the training programme, but only 22 have enrolled so far.
by Daniel Thomas
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