It comes as no surprise to anyone who’s worked in the food service industry that, despite being 10 percent of the U.S. Economy, it has a turnover rate of more than 70 percent a year. In fact, most people think of the food service industry as a way to make extra money or a temporary job to earn little extra money and get some experience. This attitude is likely why 52 million shifts are missed each year; people call off, call in sick or fail to show without warning.
Since the work is sometimes poorly paid, often requiring tips to make ends meet and the job demands are physically taxing, many restaurant owners and staffers are all too used to handling callouts and workforce shortages. While the reasons may be legitimate, it puts them in a dangerous place, forcing them to continually improvise to give guests and other staff the best experience possible. The mobile app development company, STECKER is hoping to change this experience.
The Past
STECKER is hoping to make fumbling over surprise callouts a thing of the past. They want to go away with companies having to operate with limited staff due to callouts and other staff members being unfairly burdened with extra work or called last minute to see if they can cover a shift. Gone will be the days of bad reviews due to staffing issues, overburdened employees who are more likely to leave their post or restaurant and termination due to poorly timed callouts.
The Present
STECKER, who has launched a campaign on Kickstarter is proposing an app that works similar to Uber. When a restaurant receives notice of a call out, they would be able to immediately search for freelance workers who can fill the shift and provide a better dining experience for guests and a better overall experience for staff.
Like Uber, this app would provide a map of available food service industry freelancers, whose profiles will show details specific to each person, like their ratings, proximity, job title and requested remuneration. Freelancers will receive a red alert on their app when they’re requested, or they can view current opportunities around them.
The local network of freelance staff would be complete with background checks, and photos in addition to the necessary information already mentioned. For restaurant owners and managers, this puts staffing solutions at the tip of their fingers. Best of all, after three missed shifts, freelancers’ profiles are removed, meaning that owners aren’t stiffed by replacements when they need coverage.
If required, restaurants who subscribe to their service will be able to upload their menus, standard operating procedures and other relevant information to a liberal learning system on the app. Through this learning system, potential freelancers can be taught the ins and outs of the business before they even arrive, so they’re trained sufficiently to handle their role.
The market for such an app is enormous. Currently, there are at least a million restaurants in the United States, employing approximately 14.9 million people and struggling with 141,000 callouts each day.
The Future?
STECKER is hoping to partner with at least 2% of the country’s restaurants, meaning approximately 20,000 restaurants would subscribe to them. The future of restaurant industry management could look entirely different with STECKER in it. With just one click restaurants can get the on-call staff they need in desperate times and freelancers can earn extra money doing what they’re skilled at and what they love to do when they’re free to do it.
A Hand Up
For experienced workers in the foodservice industry, STECKER is a dream come true, allowing them to work on their schedule as freelancers whenever they need to earn extra money. For food service workers who aren’t as experienced or have experience at all, STECKER provides an exciting benefit. Since an estimated 1.6 million new restaurant jobs will be created by 2027, STECKER offers voluntary work experience for those hoping to gain skills and enter the food service industry.
Since all services are available online, there’s no need for learners to travel outside of the comfort of their own home. These services are made possible through a collaboration between STECKER and registered service providers in the food and beverage industry. In this way, STECKER surpasses similar work placement apps in that they intend to empower people through free educational tools to help them advance into other positions.
