Staffing

Uno's, Boston's initiatives focus on fixing labor woes

Photo: iStock edited.

May 21, 2021

Pizza brands are pulling out the stops to deal with the worker shortage woes that have shut or curtailed hours at so many U.S. restaurants.

At Dallas-based Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar, a partnership with talent management system talentReef is designed to help stores recruit and hire by integrating their local job boards — like Indeed and LinkedIn — with the brand's online platform to streamline job posting management and track applicants in one place. In this case the franchisor pays for the service in full, a news release said.

The company said the system helps prospective employees by expediting the application by process through QR code scanning and text-to-apply options tailored to location-specific positions. Likewise, Boston's corporate marketing, operations and HR departments are working with stores to promote the hiring efforts once the launch of the platform is complete.

Boston's and talentReef will also offer franchisee training on the system, beginning in June.

Meanwhile, at Uno Pizzeria & Grill restaurants in the Baltimore, Virginia Beach and Washington D.C. areas, the focus is all on giving the brand's current employees a bit of a break.

UNO restaurants in Ellicott City, Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland, as well as in Alexandria, Manassas, Falls Church, Norfolk and Tabb, Virginia are temporarily closing on May 26 to give employees a paid day off, according to a press release.

The franchisee of those stores Amir Yazdi said the day-long break is his way of saying thanks after what the release called "a long year of uncertainty and the nationwide labor shortage that's taken a toll on restaurant staff amidst the pandemic."

Dubbed "Wellness Wednesday," all employees at the eight locations will receive a day off with compensation and those locations will also offer guests a free BOGO pizza on Tuesday, May 25 so "they can get their deep dish fix until restaurants reopen on Thursday," the release said.