Burrito Season is Near: Chipotle Announces Thousands of Hires Ahead of its Busiest Months

It's turning out to be a busy week in burrito news. On Monday, Wendy's announced it's adding a breakfast burrito to its morning menu. Now Chipotle has announced that it is looking to hire 19,000 new employees ahead of Burrito Season, which is what the fast food chain calls its busiest time of the year, which runs from March to May.

Along with the announcement came news that the Chipotle is ramping up the benefits to attract as these new employees. Perks include access to a Visa card, access to credit through high-tech banking and even a student loan retirement match program, where the company will match up to 4% of eligible employee's salaries to their 401(k) if they make eligible student loan payments.

The chain is also going all in on the mental health of its future employees by offering six free sessions with a mental health coach to all new hires. As the company stated in a press release, these perks all cater to the company's main employment demographic: Gen Z. "More than 73% of Chipotle's restaurant employees are Gen Z, and these new benefits cater to the challenges they are facing."

"It has been widely cited that those born in the late 90s through the early 2000s are experiencing notable financial challenges,' continued the aforementioned press release from Chipotle. This includes "'racking up credit card debt faster than previous generations and being nearly twice as likely as the general population to not feel confident managing their money."

Chipotle was founded in 1993 in Denver, Colorado and has grown to the point that they currently have 3,375 restaurants across the United States and more than 110,000 employees across the company. The chain's starting wages for hourly employees was raised in 2021 to $18 per hour while the highest general manager position available (restaurateur) has an average compensation of $100,000, according to the company.