The chain is targeting 20,000 additional employees ahead of its busiest season from March to May
Chipotle’s annual hiring spree ahead of “Burrito Season,” which marks the chain’s busiest time of the year from March to May, will get an assist this year from artificial intelligence.
In October, the chain added an artificial intelligence-powered platform in partnership with Paradox — dubbed “Ava Cado” — to reduce hiring time. It will leverage the system to hire 20,000 additional employees to ensure its more than 3,700 restaurants are staffed for the peak season.
Since its integration, Ava Cado has shortened the time it takes for a candidate to complete their application and start the job from 12 days to four days. The system has nearly doubled Chipotle’s application flow and increased its candidate application completion rate to more than 85% from approximately 50% prior.
According to the company, Ava Cado chats with candidates, answers their questions, collects basic information, schedules interviews, and sends offers in real time, reducing the time it takes to hire an employee for an in-restaurant position by as much as 75%. The system is multilingual with the ability to converse with candidates in English, Spanish, French, and German. Its deployment comes as Chipotle strives to double its footprint in the coming years.
“As we continue to move toward our long-term goal of operating 7,000 restaurants in North America, we are empowering our teams to recruit and hire talent that are excited by our vision to ‘Cultivate a Better World’ and want to grow with us,” chief human resources officer Ilene Eskenazi said in a statement in October. “Paradox operates as if we’ve hired additional administrative support for all our restaurants, freeing up more time for managers to support team members and provide an exceptional guest experience. We’re excited about the early improvements we’re seeing.”
Also to support Burrito Season, Chipotle has launched three new “Behind the Foil” national TV ads featuring real employees and footage of the company’s kitchen and prep routines. Employees featured in the ads include Lisset Rodriguez, general manager from Portland, Ore., Justice Hudson, certified training manager and restauranteur from Phoenix, and Karen Martinez, general manager from Donna, Texas.
“‘Burrito Season’ presents candidates with an opportunity to start here, stay here, and reach
their career goals with us,” Eskenazi said. “As current team members have demonstrated, our restaurants can be the foundation of a fulfilling career, and we’re committed to bringing in the best candidates who share our values and onboarding them as efficiently as possible.”
In 2024, the company said it promoted 23,000 team members, and 85% of all restaurant management role promotions were internal.
Additionally, Chipotle has expanded access to the Calm app for all employees. Calm aims to help users reduce stress through science-backed content and activities promoting mental health. According to the company, more than 73% of its employees are Gen Z, which outspends older demographics on mindfulness-related wellness products such as meditation classes and therapy.
NASCAR activation
Chipotle also announced this week a new partnership with NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney ahead of the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta this weekend. With this partnership, Blaney will have his go-to order, The Ryan Blaney Bowl, featured in the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com for a limited time. The bowl includes brown rice, black beans, chicken and steak, tomatillo red-chile salsa, guac, and cheese. This marks the first time a NASCAR athlete has had their digital entrée featured at the chain.
As part of its first-ever activation at a NASCAR event, Chipotle will also have a pop-up restaurant in the Fan Zone of the Atlanta Speedway from Feb. 21-23. This sponsorship is part of Chipotle's Real Food for Real Athletes platform, initially launched in 2019 to support athletes across all levels to perform their best by “providing proper nutrition through real food and fresh ingredients.” Previous partnerships include the USC Women’s Basketball team, the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams, Olympic athletes participating in the Summer Games in Paris, and approximately 1,000 scholarship and walk-on student-athletes at Ohio State University.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
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