Wendy's Is Launching Breakfast Service, Hiring 20,000 New Employees

Wendy’s is joining the fight for fast food customers first thing in the morning, announcing plans to launch breakfast service at all of its locations in 2020.

That’s driving a hiring blitz at the company, which is looking to add 20,000 new employees in the coming months, a feat that might be harder to achieve with both UPS and Amazon announcing plans to hire 100,000 and 30,000 employees, respectively, on Monday.

Wendy’s currently serves breakfast at 300 locations, but the success of McDonald’s and other chains in breakfast foods has spurred it to expand that number. That’s going to cost Wendy’s about $20 million in one-time charges, the company says.

McDonald’s success in the fast food breakfast arena has brought increased interest from a number of competitors, from Taco Bell to Whataburger. The company, in 2015, did away with limited hours for breakfast, offering everything from Egg McMuffins to pancakes all day. The move was even more popular than the chain had hoped, leading to it expanding its menu the following year (and again in 2019).

Having fought the burger wars with that chain, Wendy’s says it’s ready for the breakfast battle.

“Launching breakfast in our U.S. restaurants nationwide provides incredible growth opportunities,” said Todd Penegor, president and CEO of The Wendy’s Company in a statement. “We are well-positioned to pursue it. We believe we have the right team and structure in place … to set us apart from the competition.”

The menu will have some familiar names. Among the foods Wendy’s plans to offer on its breakfast menu are the Breakfast Baconator, a Frosty-ccino, and a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.

Sorry, no spicy chicken biscuit has been announced yet, but don’t be surprised if that shows up later.