App connects restaurants with staff

A novel staffing app aims to connect the restaurant and hospitality industry with skilled workers.

The app, called Staffy, is designed to make it easier to fill staffing gaps with the beta launch of its new app, the developer said in a press release.

Through the app, still in beta testing, restaurants and skilled contractors agree to a fair wage for the services needed, ensuring restaurants are able to address their staffing needs while giving qualified contractors the freedom to pick up shifts tailored to their experience and schedule.

“The restaurant industry can be quite transient and it takes a lot of time and energy to find and keep staff or fill gaps on the spot particularly during the Holiday season,” said Peter Faist, chief executive officer of the company. “With our new on-demand service, we can typically have a skilled contractor on-site within 90 minutes.”

Designed and built in Canada, the Staffy platform has already been used by over 150 top restaurant industry leaders including Top Chef, Joe Beef, Bar Isabel, the University of Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Wayne Gretzky’s. Since November 2015, over 3,000 shifts have been filled, successfully proving the Staffy model. Launching the beta app was the next natural step.

Absenteeism and turnovers are the biggest operational challenges in the restaurant industry, the release said. Flexibility for skilled contractors is a critical feature of the beta Staffy app. In addition to owning their availability and setting their wages, skilled contractors can start working immediately, following an efficient and effective vetting process that is much shorter than the traditional model. The app is suited to candidates who can’t commit to full-time work, is under-employed, is just looking to make extra income or wants to pursue other creative passions.

Staffy is available to bars, restaurants and food-service workers in Toronto with plans to expand to Vancouver, Montreal, and New York, in the coming months. Interested restaurants and skilled contractors can register at http://www.staffy.ca/www or by downloading the beta Staffy app through the App Store or Google Play Store.