How Arcos Dorados Navigates Regulatory Change Without Losing Focus on People

Arcos Dorados + Orquest: A Collaboration Focused on Operational Excellence

The debate around regulatory changes in several Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Colombia, is no longer a future hypothesis. For many organizations, it has become another variable in an already complex operating environment. For Arcos Dorados, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee, with operations across nearly every country in the region, this challenge comes at a particular moment: sustained growth, high turnover across the industry, and an operation that demands daily precision.

From the People team, Carla Turturro explains during a breakfast hosted by Deloitte Mexico the advantage of Orquest’s intelligent workforce planning in addressing this challenge: “the accuracy of the forecast to give me the right positioning, and at the same time the agility and user experience inside the restaurant.”

When scheduling relied on intuition

For years, scheduling shifts and tasks at Arcos Dorados was handled in a decentralized way, restaurant by restaurant. The system depended heavily on the knowledge and experience of the manager on duty.

“There was no centralized visibility. There was no data,” Carla recalls. Decisions were made based on intuition: if it rained, if higher sales were expected, or if someone “felt” more people were needed on a given shift. This created multiple issues, not only in efficiency but also in fairness. Who received more hours or how training was assigned were decisions “shaped by subjectivity.”

Growing while the rules change

Arcos Dorados operates across multiple markets with very different regulatory realities. In countries like Mexico, the context is one of constant expansion, with hundreds of restaurants and millions of monthly transactions. That volume translates into more than one million labor hours to manage every month. When changes to labor regulations are added, the question is no longer just how to comply, but how to anticipate change without losing efficiency.

Bridging data and operations: Orquest Smart Planning

Turning operational pressure into positive impact required a deliberate technology choice. Orquest was originally developed for McDonald’s Spain to align labor resources with real demand, addressing the specific needs of the restaurant and retail sector.

The system automatically generates optimized schedules through three pillars: accurate demand forecasting, precise calculation of required labor hours, and the creation of optimal shifts. This allows restaurants to ensure efficient coverage and full regulatory compliance, while eliminating scheduling errors and boosting team motivation through fair, predictable schedules aligned with actual workloads.

The pressure point: people, turnover, and labor cost

This last point is critical. In retail, labor cost matters, but turnover matters even more. At Arcos Dorados, more than 60% of the workforce turns over each year, and “more than a quarter of that turnover happens within the first 90 days,” Carla notes.

Hiring more people is not always the answer. Doing so without clear data can make the problem worse. Legislative changes to working hours only increase the pressure if the organization lacks the flexibility that technology can provide.

The impact that’s often overlooked: fairness and transparency

Beyond productivity gains, removing subjectivity through Orquest improved transparency. Employees gained clearer visibility into their schedules and development opportunities. Information moved off paper and became accessible and up to date. Training began to follow flows aligned with what the operation actually needs at any given moment.

“This also impacts engagement and turnover,” Carla explains. Because turnover is not just a people issue. It’s a direct business cost.

A story still unfolding

Today, the partnership between Arcos Dorados and Orquest continues to grow. Having data, visibility, and the ability to simulate scenarios makes a real difference when the environment becomes more complex. The experience shows that optimization is not only about efficiency, but about how work is organized to truly support people.