Papa John’s is offering hiring, referral and appreciation bonuses to both new and current employees in an effort to hire more workers, to the tune of $2.5 million throughout 2021.
Current corporate team members will get $50 for every new employee they bring in. The referred new team members also get $50. Current workers can also earn up to $400 in “appreciation bonuses” throughout the rest of the year.
The bonuses are for corporate restaurants, not franchised ones. The latter control their own hiring practices.
The national pizza company announced the new incentives on July 8 in a press release.
“The incredible hard work and commitment of our team members, which powered Papa John’s tremendous performance and transformation over the past 18 months, is just as important to our sustained long-term growth,” said Papa John’s president and CEO Rob Lynch in the release.
He added that bonuses are designed to “reflect the value we place on growing, retaining and supporting our dedicated team” and pointed to other perks of being a Papa John’s employee. During COVID-19, the company increased health and wellness benefits and paid time off. The Dough & Degrees option also offers college courses to Papa John’s workers. Lynch said that all these benefits will now become permanent.
Franchisees also have been offering their own bonuses and other perks to attract new employees.
If you found yourself ordering more pizza in the last year, you weren’t alone. The company had a 12% increase in total revenue between 2019 and 2020, bringing in $1,813.2 million.
Record sales for pizza chains during 2020 have started to slow but companies still need more workers to meet demand and fill lost positions due to the pandemic.
While hiring across the restaurant industry has picked up, restaurants had 1.3 million fewer workers in June 2021 compared to February 2020, according to Department of Labor statistics. There are about 14,000 current Papa John’s corporate front-line team members.
Do these perks make you want to work for Papa John’s? What do you think restaurants chains could do to bring in new employees?
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