- Applebee's "Apps for Apps" promotion was a huge success and brought in 40,000 applicants.
Restaurants are increasingly turning to application perks to attract potential employees.Retail is facing alabor shortage industry-wide.
Applebee's says it drew in 40,000 job applicants for 10,000 openings with its free appetizer incentives, a spokesperson confirmed to Insider.
Restaurants are offering up all kinds of perks to attract workers, and Applebee's seems to be one of the most successful. On May 17, the $4 in the hopes of filling 10,000 open positions. Interviewing candidates received coupons for a free appetizer through the "Apps for Apps" program. It got four times as many applicants, "putting us well on our way to meet our goal," a spokesperson said.
"Our No. 1-selling category is appetizers, so we decided to offer an app for an app. I've got guests coming back in droves, but I don't have all the team members I'd like," $4
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$4 McDonald's, and Taco Bell, along with others, are $4 online in hopes of staffing up and returning to pre-pandemic hours with open dining rooms. Some hiring managers are advertising perks like $4, signing bonuses, and referral programs. $4 after announcing it was boosting the minimum wage.
It seems perks aren't always enough to $4 as thousands of people leave the industry for good. Some workers who were furloughed or laid off early in the pandemic $4.
In place of customer-facing retail jobs, some workers are turning to warehouse employment with companies like Amazon, even as those jobs $4. The e-commerce giant has $4 since July, mostly in warehouse roles.
Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.