McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski issued a warning to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot four years after the burger giant moved its corporate headquarters to downtown Chicago from a suburb.
He warned Lightfoot that he can’t get executives to move to the city because she basically handed it over to violent criminals and caused a crisis. He said:
“Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question. ‘What’s going on in Chicago?’ There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis. The truth is, it’s more difficult today for me to convince a McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago.
“It’s more difficult for me to recruit a new employee to McDonald’s to join us in Chicago than it was in the past.”
“We see every single day in our restaurants what’s happening at society at large.
“It’s not going to be something that McDonald’s can solve on its own.
“We need to be able to do it with the public sector as well.”
“That’s one of the things about McDonald’s.
“Whatever’s happening in society, good or bad, you can be sure it’s happening at McDonald’s.”
He said he is not moving the headquarters, yet, but implored Lightfoot to make a plan and execute it, “Let us know the plan so we can support it. It’s going to take partnership.”
According to The Wall Street Journal:
A number of major companies, including Boeing Co. BA 0.68%▲ and hedge-fund firm Citadel LLC, have announced this year that they will move their headquarters out of Chicago.
Citadel head Ken Griffin said he decided to move Citadel from Chicago to Miami for a better corporate environment, and company officials said crime was also a consideration.
Boeing said in May that moving its headquarters from Chicago to the Washington, D.C., area would bring the aerospace company closer to customers and engineering workers. Kellogg Co. said in June that it would move its global snacking business to Chicago as part of its decision to separate its business into three companies.
Four years after McDonald's headquarters moved to Chicago, the company's CEO says he's NOT lovin' it.
“There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis.”https://t.co/cCGpIwNGy7
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) September 15, 2022
