Arcos Dorados Reaffirms its Commitment as the Leading Youth Employer in Latin America and the Caribbean

Arcos Dorados Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ARCO), the largest independent McDonald’s franchisee in the world and the operator of the brand in Latin America and the Caribbean, has launched its We Believe in Youth campaign (Creemos en los Jóvenes). The Company is committed to offering younger generations formal job opportunities that will teach them the skills that will establish a strong foundation for their future careers. Furthermore, as part of its 3-year restaurant development plan, which began in 2017, Arcos Dorados estimates that it will create more than 13,000 new jobs for young people in the region by the end of 2019. The Company’s focus is to act as a gateway to the formal job market, offering young people their first work experience opportunity.

Arcos Dorados currently directly employs more than 73,000 people aged between 16 and 25; and McDonald’s is the first formal job for the vast majority of these young people. While working at McDonald’s, young people acquire skills related to teamwork, customer service, timeliness, personal hygiene, handling money, interpersonal communication and many more. They can then choose to pursue opportunities within Arcos Dorados, where many of the Company’s current leaders began their careers in its restaurants. Or, they can take the skills they’ve learned and apply them to almost any other profession.

“In Latin America, there are currently more than 23 million young people who neither study nor have a job. As a result of this situation, and as part of our company’s commitment to the community, we are actively collaborating to reduce the barriers to provide these young people with access to their first formal job. The goal of these efforts is to help them learn, work and study and then continue their careers, be that with us or with other companies,” commented Lyana Latorre, Senior Director of Corporate Social Engagement at Arcos Dorados. “The “Creemos en los Jóvenes” campaign reflects our faith in young people as we trust them with key responsibilities in our business, especially serving the millions of customers who visit us every day in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Great Place to Work

As a result of its focus on employment, at the end of 2017, Arcos Dorados was included at the top of the ranking compiled by the Great Place to Work® Institute. In Uruguay, the company was ranked 2nd (in the category of companies with more than 150 employees); in Brazil, it was ranked 3rd; and, in Argentina, it was ranked in 5th place (in the category of companies with more than 1,000 employees). The Great Place to Work® Institute also recognized Arcos Dorados as the second-best place to work for people with disabilities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Furthermore, TOP Companies, another leading firm in organizational culture evaluation, ranked the company 6th in Mexico (in the category of companies with more than 3,000 employees).

These important recognitions are the result of Arcos Dorados’ outstanding workplace environment, continuing training programs and the career plan it offers its employees. Every year, the company invests more than US $50 million in training, and it has a specialized training department and a corporate university (McDonald’s University) in Alphaville, Brazil. Last year alone, more than 5,000 people enrolled at the university, and more than 100,000 hours of training were provided. On-going training programs are available to employees beginning with their induction, covering areas such as operations and the skills necessary to interact within the workplace.

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About Arcos Dorados

Arcos Dorados is the world’s largest independent McDonald’s franchisee in terms of system-wide sales and number of restaurants, operating the largest quick service restaurant (“QSR”) chain in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has the exclusive right to own, operate and grant franchises of McDonald’s restaurants in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Company operates or franchises over 2,100 McDonald’s branded restaurants with over 90,000 employees and is recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Latin America. Arcos Dorados is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ARCO). For further information about the Company, please visit the Investors section on our website: www.arcosdorados.com/ir.

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