InterviewFast food fulfills dreams in aging society

One thing Shin Jeong-ok, a team leader at a McDonald’s restaurant in Seoul’s Seongbuk District, enjoys about her job is being looked up to by friends and acquaintances in their 60s and older.

In Korea, where the population is rapidly aging, seniors face increasingly fierce competition for employment as they outnumber younger job seekers.

As of this year, more than 11 million people in Korea, or 21.6 percent of the population, are aged 60 or older. Many are baby boomers born between 1955 and 1963, a generation larger than those that came before them. Now entering retirement, they are increasingly seeking jobs, but age-related health issues and physical limitations restrict their employment options.

Fortunately for Shin, her current job title is a hard-earned position she began in her early 50s. Now, the 63-year-old says she cannot imagine a life without working five times a week at McDonald’s Jongam SK branch in northern Seoul.

“When I tell my neighbors or friends that I work at McDonald’s, I see the envy in their eyes. Being able to say that I have a job and seeing their admiration really lifts my spirits,” Shin said in an interview with The Korea Times at the fast food chain branch, Wednesday.

“My crew members are much younger than me, almost as young as my children. I love conversing with them, too. It makes me feel young again, changing the way I think and all. Where else would I ever get a chance to talk to young folks like them?”

Shin began her McDonald’s career in 2013 when she just turned 50. The company has no upper age limit for crew members, allowing her to work as long as she wants. Now, she is the team leader of the branch's crew and official “master griller.”

Badges are given to staff members who strictly keep the company’s kitchen standards, according to a management employee. “With her work experience here and that badge, we trust her and ask her for any task here,” the employee said of Shin.

Shin began working at the restaurant when she grew bored with her daily routine after raising her two sons into their 20s. Rearing her children had forced her to quit serving the National Police Agency, and she could no longer stand living without contributing any earning to the household.

She applied for a position after seeing a newspaper advertisement in which McDonald’s Korea was recruiting housewives as crew members. Despite having no prior kitchen experience, she got the job.

“The hardest part when I started working at the restaurant was keeping up with younger crew members in memorizing menu items and performing other tasks. I used to buy my children only Bulgogi Burgers and had no idea how many different burgers there were. My younger colleagues were also quicker at everything. I couldn’t deny that my age put me at a disadvantage,” she said.

“My manager back then was also concerned about me taking orders from my juniors. But I didn’t mind that. I tried to keep up with the younger colleagues, taking receipts home and memorizing names of the food items. Now, the restaurant feels so comfortable it’s like my home. I actually spend more time here than home.”

McDonald’s Korea is recruiting seniors like Shin. On Oct. 20, the company will join this year’s Seoul Middle-Aged and Senior Career Fair at aT Center in southern Seoul which is hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by the city's Seoul 50 Plus Foundation. The company has been collaborating with the foundation since 2023 and has been hiring senior crews since the early 2000s.