A new hospitality recruitment mobile phone app called Syft has launched to provide cost-effective solutions for temporary workers in the UK.
Describing itself as the ‘Uber of hospitality staffing’, Syft can provide temporary front- and back-of-house staff for the hospitality and event industry in a matter of minutes.
Job seekers are vetted by Syft before being given free access to the app. Within the app, they are then rated according to their skills by the community of Syft employers (skills include silver service, mixology), and completed jobs appear with ratings from employers. In addition, the app cuts the agency middleman, providing full direct communication between employers and employees.
The interface is simple to use and allows the hiring of multiple employees for different jobs. Syft also handles payroll and tax obligations, leaving the employer only to pay wages and NI contributions via the app, plus a service fee amounting to 15% of the wages.
Overall Syft says it is ‘up to 65% cheaper than traditional recruitment agencies’. Employees are paid on average £9.25 per hour, which can reach £20 for more experienced staff. Higher wages can be achieved through free training, which Syft also provides.
The number of issues and time spent searching for temporary work in the industry gave co-founders Jack Beaman and Novo Abakare the idea for Syft, along with a frustration at the fees recruitment agencies would charge.
Beaman said: ‘Whilst at university I found it hard to believe that the recruitment agency employing me on behalf of top hotels were earning such huge fees on top of my wage, whilst providing the employer with minimal control and choice over the staff they received.’
‘Combined with my years working in a tech start up, I feel strongly that technology is set to have a huge impact across hospitality and recruitment and believe Syft is the app to kick start this.’
Clients such as Coya, Tate Modern and Tate Britain used Syft during its soft launch at the end of last year. ‘Syft is an extremely easy to use app designated to [provide] high quality staff to the hospitality industry and having used it on a number of occasions I have found not only the process of using the app but the staff I’ve hired a joy to work with,’ said Coya’s global beverage director Andrew Pengelly.