By Jamie Baxter
The hospitality industry is notorious for its high turnover and consistent understaffing. In fact, restaurants, bars, and other F&B businesses deal with an average 75% turnover every year – and the problem isn’t going away any time soon. The most common challenges we hear are last-minute callouts, events that far exceed a team’s size, and staff accepting other jobs.
The uncomfortable truth is this: hospitality businesses can’t hire fast enough to avoid turnover and understaffing. The solution to this industry-wide pain point is completely rethinking how to staff and leaning into the new, tech-driven resources.
Understaffing Is Undermining Business
The turnover rate for hourly employees is at an all-time high. According to industry researcher TDn2K, the turnover rate in 2017 was 146.2%. The stress of high turnover and understaffing not only burns out the existing team but can also stretch the roster too thin, eventually affecting customer experience. In an inherently competitive (and digital) landscape, a customer will either find somewhere else to go or share their experience online. In just one year, this could add up to tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
The New Age Of Staffing
Replacing staff is expensive – the average cost for a restaurant to hire a new employee is $5,684. Instead of investing money into a never-ending problem, restaurants and hotels have solutions at their fingertips that can help meet their business goals and staffing needs.
For the increasing amount of workers looking for freedom and flexibility in their schedules, hospitality is emerging as an industry option. On-demand staffing platforms allow talented industry professionals to practice their skills and earn income that otherwise wouldn’t have been available. At-home parents pick up shifts after they drop their children off at school, so they can earn supplemental income while taking care of their families. Others use these opportunities to earn additional income on top of a full-time job to help pay for student loans or a big vacation.
At the same time, businesses can avoid the financial strain of churn and low staff by outsourcing the work of finding and vetting these professionals, and can even save sanity by essentially auditioning people before deciding to bring them on full-time. Some staffing platforms might even provide a no-fee onboarding process, which means if a business wants to offer a full-time position, they can do so without any recruiting fees.
Change The Way You Work
Tech-driven solutions put people first while providing real-time results. Businesses that are using on-demand staffing platforms are seeing amplified customer service and the ability to take on more events with access to additional staff. These platforms take the pressure off businesses to find their own quality, experienced staff so they can focus on improving their operations and delivering quality service while staying ahead of the fast-paced industry.
In today’s digital world, leveraging technology can become a businesses’ biggest competitive advantage. With on-demand staffing platforms, businesses can take on more clients, expand faster, increase customer satisfaction, and alleviate the cost and burden of recruiting. Understaffing isn’t going anywhere but with tech-driven resources, you can stay ahead of the game.
