Cheesecake Factory Joins Chains Testing Community Hiring Tool

The Cheesecake Factory is among the chains running a community-based recruiting tool that costs less than big job boards. The Restaurant Careers Community Resource Guide connects operators with local schools, non-profits and job fairs. The pitch: candidates sourced that way stay longer, which cuts turnover expense.

The guide starts at $395 per week or month, with no contract required. An app version arrives this fall. The tool was built by Restaurant Recruit Inc., a firm that has handled restaurant hiring for three decades.

Lucky Strike Entertainment, another user, said the guide helps fill hard-to-staff roles at lower cost. “The RC Guide has been an invaluable tool for our 365 locations, giving operators a one-stop approach to go beyond the big job boards,” said Meagan Francisco, the company’s Director of Talent Acquisition.

The industry’s annual turnover rate has topped 130% in recent years. Rising wages have squeezed margins across casual dining. A tool that shaves those costs matters for a operator like Cheesecake Factory, which runs roughly 300 Cheesecake Factory outlets plus other concepts.

CAKE carries an Alpha Score of 44 out of 100, a Mixed signal in the Consumer Cyclical sector. The score reflects modest profitability but ongoing execution risk in a competitive dining market.

Whether the community model scales past a handful of locations remains an open question. The company has disclosed no financial impact from the pilot. The app release this fall will offer one more data point.

“Employees that are sourced from community groups often stay longer, which helps operators with the high cost of turnover,” said Laura Hackley, Director of Development for Restaurant Recruit.

The Cheesecake Factory declined to comment on specific results from the tool.