WorkJam, an online platform that was founded in 2014, has tried to be at the forefront of this shift. It provides clients such as Target, Ulta Beauty, and Hilton with digital tools their non-salaried employees can use to swap shifts, complete trainings, and get early access to wages.
Cofounder and CEO Steve Kramer recently spoke with the Associated Press about how companies can better retain hourly workers. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the environment like for hourly workers when you started the company?
When we started the company in 2014, we set out to solve two issues to help with the socioeconomic issues that existed at the time. And they were large socioeconomic issues. In fact, President Obama, in his State of the Union speech in 2014, had hourly workers on stage with him because there was a lot of scheduling practices that were happening at the time that were creating unpredictability. So Obama actually put in a lot of new compliance rules to protect the hourly worker and to create more predictability in their schedules and their paychecks.
The pandemic was a black swan event for WorkJam because it did empower the employees. There were a lot of social issues that were happening as well. The idea around inclusion.
Q. What savings can your firm deliver for clients?
A. The ability to retain employees, which was very important over the last five or six years with the labor shortage, has a big impact on the bottom line. It costs anywhere between $4,000 to $8,000 to recruit and train a new front-line employee. So if you’re able to retain your employees and reduce attrition, and let’s say it’s a company of 40,000 to 50,000 employees, it turns into millions of dollars of savings.
Q. What are some hiring trends?
A. It’s not so difficult to hire hourly workers anymore. Many sectors have pulled back and have slowed down their hiring. Restaurant and hospitality have had modest growth. But certainly in retail, manufacturing, distribution, we are seeing a pullback.
