W H I T E PA P E R
WHERE ARE THE HOURLY WORKERS?
How to get hourly job applicants in a tight labor market
Hiring the hourly workforce has always been a
battle. And after more than a year of living under
COVID restrictions, nearly every aspect of our
business lives has been transformed. Developing
strategies that include social distancing and
contactless methods and tactics have dominated
most service industry businesses.
But now with cities across the country finally
lifting most if not all restrictions due in large part
to expanding vaccination rates – coupled with the
return of warm weather and a resurgent economy
- the main challenge today is finding and retaining
hourly workers.
There’s no other way to put it: we’re witnessing a
severe scarcity of applicants, which is cause for
massive concern considering that economists are
projecting as many as 10 million new jobs added
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by the end of this year (and that 55.5% of America’s
labor force–73.3 million according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics1–is made up of hourly
employees). For instance, the National Restaurant
Association recently reported that staffing at full-
service restaurants remains down by a full 20%.2
And, a recent National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB) found that 42% of owners have
openings they are unable to fill.
How bad is it? A McDonald’s in Florida is paying
people $50 just for showing up for an interview,
TAG Restaurant Group in Denver is paying a signing
bonus - $500 for hourly workers and $1,000 for
managers that stay 90 days, Chipotle is offering
debt-free degrees to its hourly employees, and
Target and Costco have raised their minimum wage
to $15/hour.
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Where Are the Hourly Workers? How To Get Hourly Job Applicants in a Tight Labor Market
So what’s going on? How can there be so many
unemployed workers, yet so many unfilled jobs?
A number of recent articles offered the following compelling insights that more broadly examined
what’s happening in the market and contributing to the current hourly workers shortage3:
01 Generous Unemployment Benefits
In an effort to help American’s who continue to
struggle financially, the federal government's
$1.9 trillion stimulus plan includes continuing
weekly unemployment benefits of $300 through
September 6th, 2021. This is exacerbated by
people’s belief that there will be plenty of jobs
available when these benefits expire – so,
there’s really no rush to return to a prior place
of employment or find a new job today.
02 Covid Health Concerns
Even with vaccinations helping to ease many
people’s concerns, the fear of contracting the
coronavirus–and spreading it to their families–
continues to discourage large numbers of
potential employees from returning to work–
especially in public or customer-facing positions.
This concern is felt for interviewing as well.
03 At-Home Care Is Still Needed
The recent Census Household Pulse (COVID-19)
survey revealed 6.3 million people were not
working because they have to be home as their
kids are still learning remotely or unable to go
to daycare. Additionally, 2.1 million said they
were still at home helping to care for an elderly
member in their household.4
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04 Holding Out for Higher Wages
With several larger U.S. companies making
the news recently by raising their minimum
wages, many would-be workers are holding
out in hopes more companies to follow suit.
Additionally, lawmakers are working to establish
$15 as the federal hourly minimum wage.
05 Switching Industries and Careers
A recent Joblist survey found 29% hospitality
workers are looking to switch out of the
industry (with the majority seeking office jobs).
In addition, with the surge in online retail and
restaurant delivery, many hourly workers are
moving into warehouse and delivery driver roles.
06 Gig Mindset and Desire
for Flexible Work schedules
The gig economy was booming pre-pandemic
and that mindset has only been reinforced by
COVID-19, where individuals place a premium on
their time and experiences. Hourly workers seek
flexible work schedules as their #1 criteria when
considering employment, and many will have
two or more jobs to meet this preference. This
places additional pressure and complexities on
employers to cover shifts.
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Where Are the Hourly Workers? How To Get Hourly Job Applicants in a Tight Labor Market
This is a perfect storm, exacerbated by the fact that
service industry businesses around the country are
all ramping back up at the same time. The reality
is, employers whose businesses depend heavily
upon hourly workers must be more agile than
ever and be willing to adapt their recruiting and
retention strategies, now. Fortunately, with the
right talent management tech stack that supports
very specific best practices, you can position
yourself and your business for success. Below are
some of the immediate measures you can take to
attract, engage, hire, and retain talent during this
unprecedented people crisis.
Promote your employer brand and culture
We’ve been hearing about the importance of
employer brand for years now but it’s never been
more paramount than today in attracting and
engaging talent. Your career pages, campaigns,
and job descriptions must clearly articulate the
steps you’re taking to create a safe and healthy
work environment, that you offer flexible work
schedules, details of any special compensation/
benefits incentives, information about training and
development programs, and your commitment to
social responsibility and diversity and inclusion.
Incorporate video testimonials from your
leadership, store managers, and employees,
and think about creating a micro-site for each
store location to really personalize the job seeker
experience. The bottom line, be sure to tell your
story, your mission, and what sets you apart as
employer of choice.
Deliver an applicant experience
built on speed and communication
There’s no way around it, this is a candidate’s
market. It’s crucial that you remove any potential
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friction from the application and hiring experience,
as today’s job seeker will abandon the application
and ghost interviews knowing they have an
overabundance of options. Implementing a
“fast” application that doesn’t require account
creation, offering a text apply option to meet
today’s mobile preference, leveraging a simple
yet effective assessment, and automating the
interview scheduling process are all key ingredients
to beating your competitors to the punch. On top
of this, communicating via SMS Text with your
applicants in real-time throughout the process will
keep them engaged and help streamline screening,
interviewing, offers, and onboarding.
Tap your employees and talent community
The best applicant sources in today’s climate are
right in front of you – employee referrals and talent
community. It’s time to get bold and creative with
employee referral programs aimed at turning your
employees into recruiting ambassadors. Leverage
campaign pages to advertise details/incentives
(right down to the location level) and make it easy
for employees to share job opportunities with their
friends and family members via email and social
media. This is a resource that you simply can’t afford
to leave untapped. The same holds true for talent
community outreach. Create compelling, branded
email and SMS Text campaigns targeted at past
applicants and former employees that live in your
CRM, encouraging them to apply/reapply for your
open positions. These high-value, low-cost channels
can help reduce your job advertising spend, which
for many service industry businesses is becoming
unsustainable.
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Where Are the Hourly Workers? How To Get Hourly Job Applicants in a Tight Labor Market

Focus on retention for career advancement. With the skills shortage

(including a growing market gap in managerial
Keeping the employees you currently have is
experience), it’s crucial that you develop internal
more crucial than ever. This requires that you
talent to fill these roles. Of course, you’ll need to
optimize the employee experience at every
give serious consideration to your compensation
stage across their journey and meet their post-
and incentive plans to ensure you stay competitive
pandemic requirements such as flexible schedules.
in this emerging wage war.
Implementing an effective, digitized onboarding
process is the tip of the spear and must incorporate
Adopting a multipronged recruiting and retention
COVID safety protocols, job training, and immersion
strategy that consists of these elements will
into your culture. Post onboarding, you’ll want to
undoubtedly help you to compete more effectively
ensure you’re delivering continuous communication
within these incredibly complex market conditions.
and recognition to your employees, including
And, the time is now because, according to Moody’s
making sure they know how their efforts and
Analytics and CNN Business “Back-to-Normal Index”,
performance are impacting the success of the
the economy is at 88% of its pre-pandemic “normal”
business. In addition, you’ll want to create an
(of 100%).5 And this positive trajectory is sure to
internal careers page to ensure your current
continue.
employees are kept informed of opportunities

References
1. BLS Reports, Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers, 2020, 2021, February, https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2020/home.htm
2. 2021, April 2, National Restaurant Association, https://restaurant.org/articles/news/restaurant-employment-rose-in-march, Restaurant Employment
Rose for the Third Consecutive Month
3. https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployed-workers-arent-returning-to-the-labor-force-jobless-benefits-2021-4?op=1
4. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey.html
5. CNN Business, 2021, week of April 12 - April 16, Tracking America’s Recovery, https://www.cnn.com/business/us-economic-recovery-coronavirus/

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