New Website Helps Venues Find Staff on Demand

Soon, hospitality businesses will no longer need to worry about expensive recruiter fees or posting lengthy job ads online as a new online platform is launching that makes finding ready-trained and flexible staff easy.

Founder and CEO Jeffrey Williams has worked in the alcohol industry for a number of years, including global and local roles with Diageo, and noticed a gap in the market for a digital service that allows venues to find staff as they’re needed.

Coming this July, Barcats is an all-new website that helps staff find work when they want it and venues find staff when they need them.

Venues looking for staff for one night or all week, for example, can find the right people to place for each shift, while students and travellers looking for flexible work can pick it up as they desire.

Barcats aims to solve the age-old issue of staff not turning up when they’re supposed to or for people not wanting to commit to full-time work or looking for shifts to fit in around another job or study.

And the website isn’t only open to bartenders; anyone in the hospitality industry can join and be found by venues easily and quickly, from wait staff to baristas, cleaners, security and chefs.

Like Uber, the website will show staff by location and rating. Once the employer selects the person they want to hire, the staff will come to them, cover the shift or provide the service, and then the employer handles the payment.

This way employers can fit staff into their usual pay schedule and don’t have to worry about paying a large fee to the website. Employers can also rate the employee after the shift to help with their future placement.

Venues simply sign-up to the website for a small, non-committal fee each month. For venues with ten staff or less the cost is $30 a month; for venues with 10-100 staff the cost is $60 a month, and those with multiple venues the cost is $90 a month.

For this, managers will have their own profile and access to a wide range of staff to choose from. Barcats manages the administration side, and all the manager has to do is select the staff they want and pay them within seven days.

Barcats won’t even take a fee if the venue decides to keep the staff on for longer than the original shift and is running a free two-month trial until September.

There will also be training available through the website from leading suppliers such as Diageo and Lion who are supporting the website. Other information about RSA and RCG training will also be available.

Venues and employees in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane can sign up now and be among the first to have access to and use the website once it launches early in July.

Visit www.barcats.com.au for more information.