McDonald’s Corp said on Thursday that a 10% average hourly pay raise will be applied at the roughly 660 U.S. restaurants it operates, joining the industry’s scramble to lure workers back into dining rooms and kitchens as COVID-19 curbs ease.

The pay raise do not apply to employees at the nearly 13,025 U.S. McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by franchisees.

McDonald’s announced that the wage hikes for over 36,500 hourly restaurant workers had already started and would continue over many weeks. Shift managers will therefore earn at least $15 to $20 an hour while entry-level crew will make at least $11 to 17 per hour under the new pay scale.

The company, which is seeking to hire 10,000 additional hourly workers over the coming 3 months, expects average pay at all company-owned restaurants to reach $15 per hour by 2024, up from about $13.

“We are rewarding our hardworking employees in McDonald-owned restaurants for serving our communities,” Joe Erlinger, McDonald’s USA president, said in a statement.

Restaurants shed millions of employees after the coronavirus pandemic compelled several dining establishments to close or severely curtail service.

Some of those workers shifted to warehouse or retail work while others rely on government payments ranging from stimulus checks to enhanced unemployment benefits – in some cases reaping more than they could earn working full-time at a restaurant.

McDonald’s joins Taco Bell, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc and other chains in sweetening compensation to lure job applicants.