McDonald's plans to hire nearly 400,000 people nationwide this summer despite just reporting one of its worst-performing quarters since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hiring initiative is the fast food giant's biggest in five years, focused on staffing up 900 new locations.

McDonald's is one of the nation's largest employers, with the company estimating that 1 in 8 Americans have worked for the chain at some point.

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About 800,000 people currently work for McDonald's, but the hiring initiative isn't expected to add to that number.

Like many fast food restaurants, McDonald's has a nearly 100% turnover rate, regularly replacing departing employees.

Earnings for the company on May 1 showed U.S. same-store sales were down 3.6%, well below analyst expectations. Globally, sales were down 1%.

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