During a press conference at the Economic Club of Chicago, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski spoke with other major business leaders about the situation in the “windy city,” claiming he feels Chicago isn’t safe enough for his company’s headquarters.
With the dramatic increase in criminal activity in the city, Kempczinski is not alone in his sentiment, as a growing number of companies are reconsidering their position in Illinois’ most populated city.
Kempczinski worries Chicago may be too unsafe for his franchise
According to the fast food tycoon, employees at the company are scared to return to the office at times because of how prevalent violent crime has become in Chicago.
With such poor quality of life in the city, the company is also having a hard time hiring new employees.
.@JoeGamaldi: 98% of Chicago voters are worried about public safety, and they should be! Crime is up 37%. The murder rate is 5x the rate per capita of NYC. Businesses are leaving in droves. The @McDonalds CEO says he doesn’t even feel safe bringing people to his headquarters! pic.twitter.com/7egmyk4ml9
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) September 20, 2022
Kempczinski added it’s become exponentially more difficult to convince a promising McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago than it was a couple of years ago. Seeing how the crime rate won’t be going down any time soon, it’s likely to stay that way.
Robberies are up 18%, whereas burglaries and thefts are up by 28% and 65%, respectively. While murders have managed to stay 15% below what we saw last year, the 479 that happened in the city this year alone is 33% more than in 2019.
One of the most common concerns these workers have is using public transport. Considering how high gas prices are while wages managed to stay low due to the growing inflation, many of them have no other options.
McDonald's CEO warns of soaring crime in Chicago: 'Our city is in crisis' https://t.co/gVsbXFWsD0 pic.twitter.com/nXCG1fODjN
— New York Post (@nypost) September 15, 2022
“Woke” policies help crime prosper
Despite his concerns, Kempczinski decided he would not be moving his company’s headquarters out of the Windy City.
This doesn’t remove the fact that a number of flagship locations across the country have closed down, prevalently in blue states, where crime is on the rise.
Other businesses, however, may not be that keen on maintaining tradition, as Citadel, Caterpillar, and Boeing all moved their headquarters out of the city as crime rates increased.
This prompted numerous business owners to demand public officials tackle this pressing matter before even more companies decide to leave.
"McDonald's CEO: 'Our city is in crisis'
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski rails on Chicago and its crime issues, in an effort to rally the city and business leaders to improve the place their companies call home.Mayor fish stand is going to be upset.
— John (@ilovedonrickles) September 15, 2022
Unfortunately, the issue isn’t something the all-American fast food chain can solve on its own. The public sector will have to make the first move toward improving the quality of life in Chicago before it’s too late.
As it stands, a growing number of blue states are adopting the “woke” agenda of defunding the police, which is playing right into the hands of the criminals taking advantage of the situation.
This is made even worse with DA offices routinely setting these criminals free or with minimal charges.
America simply isn’t the place it used to be. Law-abiding, hard-working citizens have been pushed into a dog-eat-dog world governed by left-wing politics that couldn’t care less about crime, so long as it’s not happening in their own districts.
