Interactive Insights

Recruiting Waitresses and Waiters

A Deep Dive into Talent Sourcing and Recruitment Advertising Benchmarks

Waitresses And Waiters

A Bit About These Talented Professionals

Welcome to the vibrant world of waitstaff, where every meal is an opportunity to create lasting memories and satisfy hungry patrons. These culinary conductors are the heart and soul of restaurants, orchestrating the dining experience with impeccable service and warm hospitality.

The world of waiters and waitresses is set for a mouth-watering 10% growth from 2021 to 2031, charging ahead faster than the average for all occupations. Hold on to your order pads – between occupational drain and job creation, this means approximately 425,000 openings each year.

Ready to serve up more great-fit candidates for your funnel, at the most optimal cost?

It’s time to let Joveo’s data do the talking!

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Year-on-year increase in CPC
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Year-on-year increase in median advertised salary
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Year-on-year decrease in unique postings

CPA App-lause or App-loss

There are a lot of factors that affect CPAsCost per application (CPA) measures the cost incurred by an organization to receive one job application from a potential candidate.. You can’t control everything (market conditions, for one!), but you can work on shaping that ideal application… The one that’s just right for your team and applicants. Wondering what key factors to consider, when you look at your process? We suggest recruiter time and effort, employer brand, CPA, application quality, and candidate experience, to name just a few.

Despite the low CPAs associated with easy apply, recruiters may not get the info they require, and apps from unqualified or low-intent candidates may pile up significantly, adding to their work load! On the flip side, a lengthy process can result in high applicant drop-off, poor CX, and a high CPA

Recommendation: What info does your team need? Whether it is easy apply, an optimized ATS-based option, or something more complex, your recruitment strategy should be data-driven.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

CPC, Ya You Know Me!

Nationally, the average CPCCost per click (CPC) is the cost incurred by an organization for each click on a job advertisement or recruitment campaign. stands at $0.90. Alaska takes the lead as the most budget-friendly state to obtain a click, priced at just $0.28. On the other end of the spectrum, Iowa stands out with the highest CPC at $2.01.

Recommendation: Be certain you’re getting the most out of your budget! Leverage this data, understand seasonality and macro trends, and stay nimble. Track and compare performance across states and do a little A/B testingA/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (job title, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions. to optimize those CPCs and conversion rates.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Demand-Supply: The Golden Ratio

There’s a definite trend in these numbers, as the ratio of hires to postings hovers fairly close to the annual average of 12.01 over the months. What does this mean, you ask? Well, there are a whopping twelve hires made for each job posting.

Recommendation: If your ratio is less than 12.01, we strongly recommend an old fashioned recruitment marketing audit. That means taking a look at job titles, descriptions, compensation, and benefits compared with your competition. Oh, and how could we neglect reach, ad dollars, and return on ad spend per source!

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Mind Your Demand-Supply Gap… by State

Wondering how aggressive your sourcing needs to be in a given state? Well, we’ve got you covered. This chart is here to save the day, giving insight into the demand-supply gap The demand-supply gap is calculated by dividing the number of unique job postings by total employment in the occupation. The higher the number, the greater the demand-supply gap, compared with the national average., and indicating just how aggressive you need to be when it comes to talent sourcing or job advertising.

For example, if you’re looking to hire in West Virginia, Vermont, or Maine, you shouldn’t have a problem. In fact, these three top our list of easiest to fill states when we take a look at demand and supply of waitstaff. On the other end of the spectrum, filling your hiring funnel in New Hampshire, Utah, and Washington DC is going to be a challenge, given the low supply and high demand!

Recommendation: If the color of your state is in the deep gold, it may indicate that you need to give your job content a little TLC, A/B test titles A/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (web page, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions., expand across locationsGeographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets., and consider spending more on recruitment marketing and job advertising to attract more great-fit candidates.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Who Posts the Most?

Posting competition is moderate when it comes to recruiting waitstaff, with an average posting intensity Posting intensity is the ratio of total job postings to unique job postings. A higher posting intensity means employers are sending copies of their reqs to several job sites or other locations on the web, to reach a bigger talent pool. of 3:1 across the occupation, nationally. Top employers like IHOP, Applebees, and Sonic Drive-In distribute their jobs with the same intensity, while other powerhouses like On The Border Mexican Grill And Cantina (4:1), Chili’s Grill & Bar (5:1), and First Watch (5:1) go a step further, beating the national occupational average. Sodexo takes the cake, however, at a whopping 12:1!

Recommendation: Be sure to get your posts out to all the right job boards and on social media. We may be more than a little biased, but one great way to automatically post jobs across the best-performing sites is to use programmatic job advertising – plus you can take advantage of job title Job title expansion means leveraging alternative job titles, using commonly searched terms. These are published as new listings in addition to the original post. and geographic expansions.Geographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Show Candidates the Money!

While the national median salary is approximately $29,000, advertised median salaries over a 12-month period hit $34,000, as of December of 2023. This delta (17%) is generally due to two reasons: Employers with higher salaries are the ones that generally tend to advertise them. Also some employers tend to only advertise the upper end of their salary brackets. Plus, waitstaff are generally tipped employees!

Recommendation: If you offer a good salary, don’t forget to call it out in your job description, even if your state doesn’t enforce it legally. Currently, 41% of unique job postings for waitstaff include wage info. This will help you attract more candidates, lower CPCs, fill your funnel faster, and get ahead of the competition as you battle to source great-fit talent.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

An Eye on DE&I: How Do You Measure Up?

We know diversity is important! In fact, 67% of today’s candidates take a serious look at potential employers’ DE&I programs, and what they find influences their decision making – big time. And, as we well know, the more diverse your workforce, the better your business outcomes!

Recommendation: Where do you land when compared with the top and bottom three? If you find you’re falling a bit short, have no fear! There are a ton of relevant job boards to give your DE&I program the fillip it needs.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Occupational Gain to Attract and Retain

By understanding what occupations waitstaff come from, you can tailor your job ad content and channels to reach those audiences, in addition to the standard talent supply in your location. For example, many come from retail sales, fast food, or cashier positions.

Recommendation: Identify the right channels with a combination of keyword research, using a programmatic job advertising partner with publisher-level historical data and expertise. Now go get those great-fit candidates!

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Would you like to learn more about any of the above data points? Curious about how your own talent sourcing efforts compare?

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