The restaurant industry is currently facing unprecedented challenges, especially when it comes to hiring. The rebound from COVID has exacerbated hiring challenges, as the number of job openings for hourly workers has greatly exceeded supply. This tight job market makes it more difficult than ever to compete, just as recruiters now find themselves scrambling to hire.

This is especially true when it comes to high volume hiring — defined as needing to hire more than 1,000 positions in a short period of time. According to research commissioned by Fountain and conducted by Aptitude Research, nearly two-thirds (65%) of companies have high volume hiring demands, yet almost seven in 10 are getting fewer candidates applying for jobs this year than last year.

Yet, hiring at scale can be done well. And no one has been better at hiring huge numbers of people in record time than gig economy companies like DoorDash, Uber and GrubHub. Using the latest technology to automate much of the hiring process, these businesses scaled to hundreds of thousands of employees in less than 10 years. Even more impressive perhaps is how delivery apps like Instacart, DoorDash and GrubHub were able to ramp up their hourly workforce to meet huge demand for delivery services during the pandemic.

Here are three key lessons restaurants can learn from the gig economy when it comes to hiring:

1. When it comes to fast casual, speed is the "secret sauce"

You can deliver a pizza in under an hour...but can you find your next employee just as fast? Yes! With an online application that digitizes and automates the application process, it's entirely possible to receive an application, do a video interview and make an employment offer in sixty minutes.

2. Understand the candidate journey

According to our Aptitude survey, 43% percent of companies say the area where most candidates drop-off is during the apply phase. So, stop using cumbersome and time-intensive emails and in-person interviews in their application process. These methods don't work in today's world of workers who use mobile phones. Employers need to reach candidates where they live, in real time, as opposed to using outdated methods from the past.

3. Make your application process mobile-first

The average US adult spends three hours and 43 minutes on their phone a day and is used to swiping and scrolling. Yet, according to the Aptitude study, one in two companies do not have a mobile-optimized application process. Companies need to make sure their recruitment efforts adapt and accommodate features that make time to hire faster, like one-way video interviewing and SMS.

"Hire quickly" should be your recipe for success in 2021. Wouldn't it be great if your company became known for its fast and easy application process? Use the right technology to show your candidates you're interested, and win their loyalty right from the start with a hiring process that's modern, efficient and respectful of their time.

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