January 29, 2009

McDonald's Corp. plants to open 240 restaurants across Europe this year, a move that will add 12,000 jobs.

The planned expansion will be the fast-food chain's largest in five years, and each outlet will take on about 50 employees.

The new outlets will be mainly in Spain, France, Italy, Poland and Russia.

The firm's European business is showing no signs of weakening, though consumers, especially in Germany and Spain, were looking more towards the lower-priced menu items, according to Denis Hennequin, President of McDonald's Europe.