Pub group offers super-flexible shifts to target retirees and young people

A pub and hotel company in south-west England is offering super flexible shifts with no minimum weekly hours in a bid to attract new staff.

St Austell Brewery, which owns over 170 pubs, hotels, and inns, is the latest hospitality group to offer ‘work when you want’ shifts to broaden the pool of potential recruits.

The company is looking to target people from “all walks of life” including retirees looking for “a new challenge” as well as young people.

It has launched a Pub Flex app that posts job vacancies including front of house, kitchen, and housekeeping roles, which pay £9.50 per hour. Candidates are not required to commit a minimum number of weekly or monthly hours to sign up.

Users receive notifications from pubs in regional clusters, depending on where they live. Members are offered a £25 gift card for signing up and a 10% discount on food and drink in all St Austell’s managed sites.

Tamsyn Allington, people and communications director, St Austell Brewery said: “We acknowledge that the way we all work has vastly changed in the last 50 years, and Covid only accelerated that change. Post-pandemic, it’s so important for hospitality businesses like us to offer balance, tangible benefits, and genuine flexibility, as well as career-paths for those who want to progress in the industry.

She added: “Young people coming into the hospitality sector continues to be essential, but there are so many other groups of people who would be great employees, such as retirees looking for a new challenge or a bit of extra income. We want to offer jobs for people of all ages and from all walks of life in our pubs.”

Other hospitality groups have been offering flexible shifts in a bid to fill gaps in their workforce.

Young’s pub group has launched a scheme offering casual workers the chance to select shifts across more than 200 sites, while Rick Stein Restaurants is inviting applications from those looking for as little as one shift a week.