Wonolo
Businesses in the hospitality industry took a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, and continue to face new challenges as the U.S. economy recovers. Prior to the pandemic, recruiting and hiring for hospitality jobs was sometimes difficult because of high turnover and low unemployment rates. When the pandemic hit, millions of hospitality workers lost their jobs, and many decided to pursue new business opportunities and careers in other industries. Now that businesses are reopening, many hospitality businesses are facing significant staffing challenges as they cannot find enough qualified workers to operate.
Pre-Pandemic Staffing Challenges in the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry is no stranger to staffing challenges, including in Dallas, Texas. On a national level, before the pandemic, job growth had been increasing steadily for a decade, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, unemployment rates in the hospitality industry were on a steady decline during that same period, dropping to 4.5% in April 2019. Under these conditions, hospitality businesses may have had more job openings than workers to fill them.
Turnover has also been a challenge for hospitality companies. In the hotel and motel industry, for instance, the annual turnover rate is about 73.8%, a striking difference compared to the rate that most HR experts agree is healthy: 10 to 15%. With so many job openings, it’s easy for workers to jump from company to company with the goal of receiving higher pay, better benefits, or escaping a less-than-ideal working environment.
A high turnover rate means hospitality companies can face an endless cycle of recruiting, hiring, and training, as workers move from job to job. It’s costly, time-consuming, and inefficient.
Traditional Hospitality Staffing Options in Dallas, TX
Traditionally, hospitality companies have had several different ways to find workers, but most of these options don’t fully address the industry’s unique hiring needs:
- Traditional Job Boards: It’s often expensive to post a job opening on a traditional job board. When companies post the same job across multiple job boards in hopes of finding qualified candidates, the fees can add up quickly. When the applications start flooding in, the burden falls to the HR team or management staff to screen the applicants, conduct interviews, and carry out the hiring process. For example, if you utilize traditional job boards to find temporary workers in Dallas, Texas, you may have to put a lot of time and money into finding the right candidates.
- Hospitality Recruiting Firms: Hospitality recruiting firms do the work of sourcing and screening candidates, sending the businesses the top candidates they deem to be a fit. Most recruiters are paid only if they successfully place a candidate. Because the fee is typically a percentage of the candidate’s first-year salary, many recruiters only place candidates for higher-level roles such as management and professional services. Therefore, a recruiting firm is usually not an ideal solution for companies in the hospitality industry.
- Hospitality Staffing Agencies: Like recruiters, hospitality staffing agencies handle sourcing and screening candidates. Staffing agencies focus on filling temporary openings, so they maintain a pool of candidates to meet their clients’ needs. Staffing agencies charge clients by adding a markup to the worker’s hourly rates. Under this pricing model, hospitality companies may end up paying a significantly higher hourly rate than they would otherwise. Other concerns with staffing agencies include slow time to fill and a limited talent pool. In sum, if you use a temp agency in Dallas, Texas, you could be looking at a higher cost and slower time to fill than if you used an on-demand staffing agency.
None of these solutions are ideal for restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality companies faced with filling openings at the last minute to keep the business running smoothly and customers satisfied.
New Staffing Solutions
To combat existing recruiting issues, some hospitality companies turn to staffing agencies and recruiting firms to find qualified candidates. Others post job openings across multiple job boards and struggle to screen applications and manage the hiring process. Using these staffing approaches, it often takes weeks (or more) to fill an open job. Like restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality companies know all too well, that’s simply too long to wait when your business is booming and your customers are waiting for service. That’s why it is a good idea to try some new approaches to find qualified workers in Dallas, TX.
Re-engage Your Furloughed Workers in Dallas, TX
One approach that hospitality employers can try as businesses reopen is to re-engage with past workers. These are workers who are already vetted, and you know how they work and what to anticipate when hiring them. It pays to be specific when you reach out to any previous workers. Tell them exactly what role you want them to fill, what the pay will be, and any new safety procedures you have implemented at your business. That way they have all of the info and can more easily decide if they are ready to come back.
Try On-demand Staffing with Wonolo
Smart hospitality companies know they’re not limited to the costly and time-consuming staffing approaches discussed above. Wonolo’s on-demand staffing solution is better and more cost-effective at connecting hospitality companies with thousands of experienced workers who are ready to work. That means no more frantic phone calls to find someone willing to fill in at the last minute. Whether your business is looking for a line cook or dishwasher, server, hostess, or for workers for other jobs, Wonolo’s on-demand platform makes it easy to find qualified workers fast.
Wonolo’s on-demand staffing solution makes hospitality staffing simple in Dallas, TX. Wonolo handles back-end administrative tasks, from ensuring that workers who accept jobs have occupational accident insurance to facilitating payment, saving your business both time and money. An easy-to-use staffing solution, Wonolo makes it easy to find the qualified hospitality workers you need fast:
- Write a quick job description
- List the location, time, and the proposed pay for the job
- Post the job to thousands of experienced workers in seconds
Wonolo’s fill rate often averages 3-4x compared to traditional staffing agencies, making it a practical, cost-effective, and efficient solution for restaurants, hotels, casinos, resorts, and other hospitality companies with last-minute staffing needs. Our technology helps ensure that your business will be connected with the best-fit Wonoloers in your area. When you use Wonolo, you can be confident that your staffing needs will be simplified, enabling you to focus on providing top-notch service to your guests and customers.
