Technology

Blaze Pizza franchisee tapping app for hiring needs

Provided

November 10, 2021

Blaze Pizza franchisee Ben Salehi has tapped Landed, a mobile app connecting hourly food and retail workers with local employers, to automate the process of finding, screening and hiring candidates for his multiple Blaze Pizza locations in Southern California.

Prior to using Landed, the company was struggling to find quality candidates and dealing with "no-shows" after scheduling interviews, said Salehi, who owns Riviera Blaze.

"Almost 90-95% of Landed candidates showed up for interviews whereas more than half of them weren't showing up before," he said in a company press release. "During this very difficult time of finding high-quality applicants, Landed has completely relieved our managers from that task, with immediate results. We're opening in a few weeks and already started interviewing vetted candidates the first day we started using Landed's app."

With Landed's mobile app, Riviera Blaze hit its hiring target much sooner than expected. Within two to three days, the company made five new hires; prior to Landed, it was making only one about every two to three weeks.

"The Landed team is also incredibly responsive; I asked them to focus on team members over assistant managers, and in 2-3 minutes somebody responded right away and it went into effect immediately," Salehi said. "They are a natural extension of our team and are constantly engaged on our behalf in talking to applicants. This is going to be a game-changer for us when it comes to staffing."

Restaurants are struggling to hire hourly workers to fill all types of roles so they can stay open longer hours now that Covid-19 restrictions have eased, said Vivian Wang, founder and CEO of Landed.

"As a result, we're seeing many closings and shortened hours simply because restaurant owners can't find enough staff," she said in the release. "The customers have come back, but the staff hasn't at the same pace. Savvy businesses like Riviera Blaze are using technology tools like Landed to find qualified candidates first and get them in the door."

How Landed works
Job seekers download the Landed Jobs mobile app and are guided through setting up their Landed candidate profile, which includes short videos plus details on their work experience, location and shift availability. Candidates may then browse jobs available near them. Landed's AI-based intelligent matching technology matches candidates with employers for whom they might be a fit, Wang said.

Hiring managers download the Landed Employer mobile app, and input hiring goals such as role titles, headcount, pay rate and locations. Landed then presents the employer with candidates who are the best matches for their open positions based on its intelligent matching algorithm, driven by AI tech. Hiring managers can see matched candidates, organize their candidate pipeline into different folders, and communicate with candidates all from within the app.