A new McDonald's tech deal will create 500 new jobs in Chicago, primarily in tech roles, according to reporting by Crain’s.
The jobs will be created through a new partnership with Capgemini, a tech consulting and outsourcing firm based in Paris, France. Capgemini will head up the food chain's restaurant and digital technology operations, which develops apps and in-store ordering kiosks.
“Capgemini enhances our ability to bring speed, scalability and disruptive innovation across our restaurant and digital technologies as McDonald’s continues to transform the customer experience through greater convenience and personalization,” said Jim Sappington, McDonald’s executive VP for digital and technology operations, in a press release.
Tim Bridges, Capgemini's head of global consumer products, retail and distribution, told Crain’s the company would open a "global digital retail center" in Chicago sometime next spring.
The center will employ between 400 and 600 people. That number doesn't include 100 existing McDonald’s tech workers who will become Capgemini employees and join the newly created division.
“Moving at the pace we're moving — with 37,000 restaurants — the need to have the right expertise at the right time, flexibility to get right resources in place quickly is of extreme importance,” Sappington told Crain’s. “We keep world-class restaurant technology expertise in-house, leveraging our talent and increasing that with Capgemini."
The decision to open a new office in Chicago was driven partly by location and partly by Capgemini’s existing presence in the area.
"For us in the U.S. and globally, a lot of our leadership is in Chicago," Bridges told Crain’s. "Part of it is access to talent. If you want to go to the West Coast or Europe, it's a central location. You can get anywhere in the U.S. from Chicago for lunch."
Bridges told Crain’s that 1,600 people –– including employees from third-party companies –– would be working on the fast food giant’s digital and tech projects. Specifics of the deal were not released, but Crain’s reports that the agreement will last for multiple years.
The location of the new office was also not revealed, but the report did say that the center would be temporarily located in Rosemont, and that the final space would be somewhere close to O'Hare.
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