In southern California, there are legions of unemployed workers now thanking their lucky stars for McDonald's. Why? Because the fast food chain is taking their chance to hire skilled, fluent English speakers that have suddenly become unemployed due to the economic downturn.

Staggering unemployment
The Golden State has experienced some of the worst unemployment levels in the United States and was at 7.7% in August, way above the national average of 6.1%.

Andy Pudzer, CEO of CKE Restaurants – owners of the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Fast food chains – said, "It's a no-brainer. Hiring people who are fluent in English has always been something we've wanted to do. Now we can."

Plus, one major cause of customer dissatisfaction in the fast food world is when employees get orders wrong, thus the recruitment of people speaking English as a first language will help tackle this prevalent issue.

Bilingual preferred
In California, however, it is often the case that speaking one language is not enough. With the influx of immigrants from Mexico and South America taking work in unskilled employment, fast food restaurants often look for bilingual staff to serve both English and Spanish speaking customer.

Jazanique and Ashanae, teenagers from San Bernardino in California said that they faced real problems while trying to find a summer job in the area. "We were shocked. We applied at places like McDonalds, Burger King and Jack in the Box. We went to shoe stores, pizza parlors and convenience stores. The workers were overwhelmingly Spanish speaking. Pretty much they always ask us, 'Do you speak Spanish?' They said we prefer bilingual."

Still, the latest news that English speakers are beginning to become available is good news for the fast food industry and it also ensures that are legal employees in branches throughout the state. Earlier this year, a company that owns 11 McDonald's franchises in Nevada was fined $1 million for hiring 58 illegal immigrants.