Good help is hard to find. For those in the hospitality industry, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even harder.
For
Bekki Yang, chief executive officer of West-Allis based startup
WorkShift, this lesson was learned early on in the process of running her own catering business, called Eggrolls To Go, in 2016.
“I had catering I would have to do and it was all egg rolls. You would think it’s just egg rolls, how hard could that be? To run a weekend-only catering company, plus a pop-up, you get so busy,” said Yang. “That’s when I first thought, ‘Gosh, I wish I had some extra help I could tap into.’”
That’s when the idea behind WorkShift was initially born. After later connecting with her co-founder and chief development officer
Manny Lara in 2019, the duo decided to move forward with building the platform. Lara is also chief human resources officer at The Bartolotta Restaurants.
WorkShift hopes to shake up the hospitality industry with a platform that connects businesses with available talent to fill open shifts while also helping talent learn the skills needed to land whatever career they want in the industry. WorkShift
took home first place in the business services category of this year's Governor’s Business Plan Contest.
What differentiates WorkShift from other gig work apps, according to Yang, is the user base it’s targeting. WorkShift will target college students, those already in the hospitality industry and looking to make some extra cash, and people in between jobs who are looking for work.
“There are not enough restaurant and hospitality workers right now,” said Yang. “The pool of workers has shrunk. What we do know is with inflation, the cost of living is going up. It’s not that we’re looking to find all this new talent. What we’re doing is creating a larger pool of talent (to pull from).”
Another WorkShift feature will be a career advancement component that would help users work toward their “endgame” job. For example, if a WorkShift user aspires to one day run a hotel, the app will feed that user recommended jobs that can help the user build necessary work experience to reach that end goal. If a hotel lists positions on WorkShift, that user would get those listings. From there, WorkShift would also offer users an “AI-scripted” resume that would allow them to copy and paste certain work experiences and skills into their real resume.
“We’re not just another gig app. With gig apps, you come in, pick up a job, get paid and check out. We’re that plus more. Our goal is to grow the next generation of service industry professionals,” said Yang.
In 2021, WorkShift piloted with Saz’s Hospitality Group for 30 days. Using that pilot as a learning process, Yang’s team spent most of 2022 developing the most recent version of WorkShift. The platform is not yet fully launched, but is being built out to become a mobile app.
The company is gearing up to launch a funding round, which will help WorkShift move into the beta testing phase. Yang said if the startup can secure funding, it would take about six months to reach the beta testing phase. In another six months, the platform could go live. In the next five years, the goal is to expand WorkShift into at least five neighboring states.
“Restaurant and hospitality businesses really have to rethink who and how they’re going after to fill their shifts,” said Yang. “It’s not like a new pool of talent is going to open up. It’s accessing and connecting with them in a different way that’s going to be more appealing and attractive."
