I suspect it has to do with the studying culture. In the US and UK (which is similarly full of deadbeats serving MacDonalds), when you study, you study and that’s it. I knew very few people who had a job when I was at University in the UK. However, in Finland, pretty much every student I knew had a job in one place or another.

There’s also the factor that MacDonalds employees get paid much more in Finland so people might not worry so much about working there.

Of course the unemployment is also a factor.

I knew very few people who had a job when I was at University in the UK. However, in Finland, pretty much every student I knew had a job in one place or another.

Really? I thought just the opposite, it seemed that all my university friends back in the states had jobs but few students here bother working because the state pays them more. (I’m talking about the 18-21 crowd)

There’s also the factor that MacDonalds employees get paid much more in Finland so people might not worry so much about working there.

How much is the hourly wage at McDonald’s in Finland? First year fast food work in the US is usually minimum wage or maybe a dollar more.

Well have you seen anyone under the age 18 working there? No you have not.

Ever seen an immigrant working in a Finnish McDonald’s

Just how much Finnish do you really need to work in McD’s?

Over two thirds of finns have a higher education, so it’s only natural that only teenagers work in fast food places.

“Ever seen an immigrant working in a Finnish McDonalds”

Yes, plenty. Ever been to Helsinki?

I have yet to go to Maccas here.

Mostly the reason is that young people in Finland see McDonalds as an easy place to get work at. At least among the people I know, everyone thinks is that if you need work and don’t mind much about the kind, McDonalds is the place to apply.

They don’t really require previous experience, nor do you need an education to work there, so young people apply there because it’s easy to apply there. I know plenty of my friends have worked at McDonalds since they’ve turned 16.

The work at fast food places is also not seen as that respectable, which is why older people rarely apply. I also think it’s because McDonalds likes to keep a youthful image, so the younger the people working, the better.

At least in Hämeenlinna most of the people who work at McDonalds are over 18. And what comes to the question why Finnish young adults are willing to work there but most Americans are not, might have something to do with the fact that Americans eat out more often and there are much more semi nice restaurants in the US where young adults often work instead of McDonalds. In Finland we almost only have either fast food or really nice restaurants and not the ones between.

olympic gymnastics.. what an excellent comparison However, I think it is required by law that anyone working nights (late nights) has to be over 18. I regularly see people over 18 working at fast food joints, but they aren’t much over…

Goes to show how much I know. I actually thought that the US MacDonalds employees were all top of the crop enthusiastic youth etc. Since I heard that they are much nicer over there. Like, they smile all the time and the procedure for the whole customer service is alot ‘tighter’ there than it is in Finland. But I guess that’s all bull then?

But I guess that’s all bull then?

Sure is. Especially inner-city Maccas.

Most people working at McDonalds are over 18, but still they are young, the average age is probably around 20.

I seem to remember that the “very high youth unemployment at 21.6%”- figure was checked by Statistics Finland, who found out that the actual figure is somewhat lower, for the simple reason that the HDI study for some reason or another classifies the young men and women in the army and the civil service as “unemployed”. The HS reported this some weeks ago, I think.

Well the forced labour people are technically unavailable to work or not in work and thus countable.

Hugh, that is a question of definition. For me, the meaning of “unemployed” is not “unavailable to work” but rather the exact opposite, the people that could be employed at any time if someone would need their labour. I definitely would not say that the people in the army are “not working”, just look at the amount of hours the consripts do at basic training, for example. The work they do might be very unproductive and extremely poorly paid, but then again, so are many jobs in the private sector…

I happen to know, that the wages in Mc Donald’s is quite good. Well, you can’t really say good, but it is better than in most of the grocery stores.

I have been working in Mc Donald’s, when I was 20, and almost everyone there was about my age.

I would like to correct the typical idea about working in mc donald’s. It it not easy, as many might think. It is very hard work and actually quite difficult job, in the sense, that you have to work really hard. If you are slow, there is no way you should even apply to mc donald’s.

When I lived in Finland last fall and winter, I visited MickyD’s all the time. Almost every student who actually had a job was under 18 and working at McD’s. I lived in Helsinki, but visited McD in Imatra and Rovaniemi, too. None of them had older people working there and none of them were open late or early (NO BREAKFAST!!!! AHHH!).

but the people were always energetic and hardworking!