Sonic Drive-In, the burger chain known for its roller-skating carhops, is looking to hire 20,000 people nationwide, including 232 in California.
Locally, that will include 99 jobs in the greater Los Angeles area, as well as additional positions in Rancho Cucamonga, Palm Springs, Camp Pendleton and San Diego.
The hiring is driven by increased customer demand, according to Eddie Saroch, the company’s chief operating officer.
“The Sonic family continues to grow as thousands of new team members begin working for franchised and company-owned drive-ins across the country,” Saroch said in a statement.
The fast-food chain has a variety of openings for carhops, crew members, multi-unit leaders, cooks, general mangers and assistant managers, among other jobs. Those interested in applying for the positions can get details at careers.sonicdrivein.com/us/en.
The company didn’t say what the jobs pay, but data from Indeed.com show carhops, cooks and crew members earn $10 an hour or less, while the hourly pay for assistant managers, general managers and shift managers ranges from $12.22 to $13.38 an hour.
All of those pay rates would be bumped up in Los Angeles, however, as the city’s current minimum wage for businesses with 25 or fewer workers is $14.25 an hour. L.A. businesses with 26 or more employees must pay workers a minimum of $15 an hour. Across California, the minimum wage is $14 hourly.
Sonic’s Southern California restaurants can be found in Palmdale, Duarte, Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Rancho Cucamonga, Pomona, Riverside, Rialto and Costa Mesa, among other locations.
Founded in 1953, it’s the nation’s largest drive-in restaurant brand, with more than 3,500 restaurants in 46 states. In December 2018, Sonic was acquired by Inspire Brands, an Atlanta-based holding company. Inspire is the owner and franchisor of the Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, Mister Donut, Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins restaurant chains.
Industry publication Spoon University recently ranked Sonic Drive-In No. 13 on its list of the 15 Best Burger Chains in the U.S. It beat White Castle, which landed at No. 15, and McDonald’s, which ranked 14th.
The list was topped by Shake Shack, followed by Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger in second place.