In today’s fast-paced retail and hospitality environments, flexibility isn’t just a perk, it’s a competitive advantage. As organizations navigate labor shortages, one challenge is rising to the top: how to enable hourly workers to seamlessly move between nearby locations.

Imagine this: a barista working 20 hours a week at one café has availability to pick up shifts at another location just 10 minutes away. But due to disconnected systems, inconsistent policies, or lack of visibility, that opportunity is lost, for the worker and the business. The challenge becomes more complex with franchised organizations where multiple owners and entities operate individual sites in the same area.

This is the mobility gap in hourly hiring. And it’s costing companies in productivity, engagement, and revenue.

Why It Matters Now

Over 8.9 million people in the US have multiple jobs1. According to Deputy’s 2025 Big Shift Report, 5.4% of hourly workers now hold multiple jobs simultaneously, with younger women in hospitality leading this trend2. This rise in poly-employment, where workers stitch together income across employers, signals a broader shift: hourly workers want control, flexibility, and access.

Yet most employers are still operating with rigid, location-bound scheduling models. This creates friction for workers and inefficiencies for businesses.

The Business Case for Cross-Site Mobility

Organizations that enable cross-site labor sharing are able to achieve outcomes such as:

A Framework for Building a Cross-Site Mobility Program

Start with a five-part framework to help unlock the full potential of your hourly workforce:

1. Policy & Governance

2. Technology Infrastructure

3. Shared Talent Pools

4. Manager Enablement

5. Continuous Optimization

The Future of Hourly Work Is Modular

As Gen Z becomes the dominant hourly workforce, expectations are changing. Flexibility is no longer about remote work, it’s about modular participation: choosing when, where, and how to work2.

Organizations that embrace this shift will not only attract and retain top talent, they’ll build more resilient, efficient, and human-centered operations.

At AMS, we’re helping clients reimagine hourly hiring for the future of work. If you’re ready to explore how cross-site mobility can transform your workforce strategy, let’s connect.

  1. Don’t Call It a Side Hustle. These Americans Are ‘Polyworking.’ – The New York Times
  2. The New Shift Economy: Flexibility Comes to Hourly Work

In retail and hospitality, frontline employees are the heartbeat of the customer experience. Yet, for too long, these roles have been seen as transient, stepping stones, rather than destinations. That mindset is shifting. Organizations that thrive in today’s labor market are those that recognize the frontline not just as a workforce, but as a talent pipeline.

So, what are leading companies doing to support career development and leadership growth from within? And how can we reimagine continuous learning for hourly employees in a way that’s both practical and inspiring?

1. Career Development Is a Retention Strategy

According to McKinsey, lack of career development is now the number one reason frontline retail employees leave their jobs1. That’s a wake-up call. Employees want to grow, and they want to grow with you. Companies that invest in upskilling and internal mobility are seeing real returns. One major retailer offering college-level courses and certifications found that participants were four times more likely to stay1.

Sam’s Club is another standout example. Their “Manager in Training” program combines instructor-led learning, on-the-job practice, and video tutorials to prepare high-potential team leads for leadership roles. Seventy-five percent of their managers started as hourly associates2. That’s not just a stat—it’s a strategy.

2. Leadership from Within: Identifying and Elevating Talent

Leadership doesn’t always come with a degree. McKinsey’s research highlights the importance of skills-based hiring and promotion—looking beyond resumes to identify real potential3. One company even hired sushi chefs and nail technicians for precision manufacturing roles based on their manual dexterity and attention to detail.

For frontline roles, this means rethinking how we assess readiness for leadership. Are we looking for the loudest voice, or the one who quietly mentors others? Are we promoting based on tenure, or on demonstrated initiative and problem-solving?

Programs that offer job rotations, mentorship, and clear advancement pathways help surface hidden leaders. And when frontline managers are supported and inspired, they become the linchpin for broader cultural transformation1.

3. Continuous Learning That Meets People Where They Are

Traditional training models that include lengthy seminars and offsite workshops don’t always work for hourly employees juggling shifts and life outside of work. The most effective learning programs today are bite-sized, mobile-friendly, and embedded into the flow of work3.

Think handheld devices delivering quick lessons on customer service or inventory management. Or tiered training that starts with hands-on skills like cake decorating and builds up to budgeting and financial acumen3. This kind of learning isn’t just about job performance, it’s about confidence, pride, and belonging.

And let’s not forget personal development. Programs that support language learning, digital literacy, or even career exploration send a powerful message: “We see you as more than your role. We see your future.”

The Bottom Line

Retail and hospitality leaders have a choice: treat frontline roles as revolving doors, or as launchpads. The organizations that choose the latter are not only building stronger teams—they’re building cultures of growth, loyalty, and purpose.

Let’s stop asking how to “retain” people and start asking how to help them rise.

  1. How retailers can retain frontline workers | McKinsey
  2. Empower the front line for a thriving organization | McKinsey & Company
  3. SHRM Educational Programs
     

The Challenge

In today’s high-volume hiring landscape, TA leaders face a dual mandate: hire fast to meet operational demands and hire well to ensure long-term workforce quality. The pressure to fill roles quickly—especially in industries like retail, hospitality, and logistics—can often lead to trade-offs in candidate experience and fit. But it doesn’t have to.

The Opportunity

Modern hiring strategies and technologies make it easy to accelerate hiring without compromising on candidate quality or experience. By integrating automation, streamlining processes, and focusing on data-driven decision-making, organizations can create a hiring engine that is both agile and human-centered.

Key Principles for Balancing Speed and Quality

Practical Checklist to Achieve Speed + Experience

To keep things practical, here’s a simple checklist you can use to make sure your hiring process is both fast and thoughtful.

Area Action
Application Process Is your application conversational based or mobile-optimized and under 5 minutes to complete?
Automation Are you using AI for screening and scheduling? What are the top two areas of friction in your current process?
Communication Do candidates receive personalized and real-time communication from first engagement through day one start?
Metrics Are you tracking drop-off rates and satisfaction scores at every step or moment that matters?
Manager Enablement Do managers have to get involved in administration of hiring or are they able to focus on just the hiring decision and day one start?
Feedback Loops Are you constantly listening and collecting feedback from candidates and the hiring team?
Employer Brand Does your employer brand resonate with your frontline team? How does the culture, benefits, and overall employee experience differ for your hourly team members from your corporate office team?

How AI Is Reshaping Hourly Jobs—and the Skills That Now Matter

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the labor market in ways that are both profound and nuanced. While much of the public discourse has focused on white-collar automation, the impact on hourly and traditionally “non-skilled” jobs is equally significant—and often overlooked.

The Two Paths of AI: Automation vs. Augmentation

AI’s influence on hourly work is unfolding along two distinct trajectories. One path emphasizes automation—replacing human labor with machines. This is already visible in sectors like retail, logistics, and food service, where AI-driven kiosks, robotic fulfillment systems, and predictive scheduling tools are becoming commonplace1.

The other path, more hopeful but less traveled, focuses on augmentation—using AI to enhance human capabilities. For example, AI can provide real-time data to warehouse workers to optimize inventory handling or assist healthcare aides with patient monitoring1. This approach not only preserves jobs but can also elevate them, making them more engaging and better compensated.

What Skills Are Emerging in Hourly Roles?

Contrary to the term “non-skilled,” many hourly jobs now require a blend of digital literacy, adaptability, and soft skills. According to research from MIT, companies are increasingly using AI to identify and close skills gaps, even in frontline roles2. Skills like:

These are becoming essential. For instance, Johnson & Johnson implemented an AI-driven “skills inference” system to map out future-ready capabilities across its workforce, including roles not traditionally seen as tech-centric2.

The Reality: AI Is Not Replacing All Jobs—Yet

Despite fears, there is little evidence that AI is eliminating hourly jobs at scale—at least not yet. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found that while AI exposure is increasing, it hasn’t strongly correlated with job losses in most sectors3. Instead, the technology is shifting the nature of work, requiring workers to adapt rather than exit.

What This Means for Employers and Workers

For employers, the message is clear: investing in training and upskilling is not optional. Workers are more likely to stay with companies that offer continuous learning opportunities2. For workers, embracing AI as a tool—not a threat—can open doors to new roles and responsibilities.

Conclusion: A Call for Proactive Adaptation

The future of hourly work in the age of AI is not predetermined. It hinges on the choices made by employers, policymakers, and workers themselves. By focusing on augmentation over automation and investing in human potential, we can ensure that AI becomes a force for inclusion and opportunity—not displacement.

 

1 AI’s Impact on Jobs and Work Is a Choice Between Two Futures

2 Research: How Gen AI Is Already Impacting the Labor Market

3 Will artificial intelligence harm future jobs?

In 2025, the frontline and hourly hiring landscape is more complex—and more critical—than ever. Retailers, hospitality operators, and consumer brands are navigating a perfect storm of high turnover, rising candidate expectations, and shrinking talent acquisition (TA) resources. Yet, amidst the chaos, one truth is emerging: the organizations that win are those that start small, iterate fast, and build a culture of continuous change.

The Reality on the Ground

What’s Working in 2025

The most successful organizations are not the ones with the flashiest tools or biggest budgets—they’re the ones that are willing to evolve:

The Call to Action

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. But you do need to start with a few basics:

The frontline hiring challenge isn’t going away. But with the right mindset and a commitment to ongoing improvement, it’s one you can meet—one iteration at a time. 

 

1 GoodTime’s 2025 Hiring Insights Report

In the rapidly evolving landscape of talent acquisition, digital orchestration is emerging as critical to optimize and conduct frontline hiring at scale. This approach involves meticulously designing and managing system workflows to ensure every step of the hiring process is efficient, compliant, and tailored to the needs of all end users. 

Let’s explore digital orchestration in recruiting and the dedicated roles necessary to make it a reality. 

Digital orchestration in recruiting refers to the integration and coordination of various digital tools and processes to create a seamless, highly personalized, efficient, and scalable hiring workflow. 

Key components of digital orchestration include: 

System workflows are the backbone of digital orchestration. They ensure that every action in the recruitment process is predefined and automated where possible. Digital experience experts leverage data, insights, and sentiment from lifecycle listening to refine and improve workflows continuously. 

With this comes responsibility to work very closely with compliance teams on regulations to ensure fair hiring processes are maintained. When there are significant experience re-designs or changes, adverse impact analyses should also be considered. 

Organizations that embrace a highly digital driven experiences typically find the need for further specialisms that include brand strategists, automation gurus, and technical consultants. The outcomes of this approach and having these capabilities include increased scalability, amazing candidate experiences, increase in manager satisfaction, decrease in time to fill, and more time available to spend in meaningful conversations with candidates and managers.

Digital orchestration is transforming the way organizations approach recruiting. 

As the hiring expectations for frontline talent continues to grow, the roles dedicated to digital orchestration within TA teams will become increasingly vital in ensuring successful volume hiring.

The outcomes of this approach and having these capabilities include increased scalability, amazing candidate experiences, increase in manager satisfaction, decrease in time to fill, and more time available to spend in meaningful conversations with candidates and managers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) anticipates that 23.1% of all new jobs projected from 2021 to 2031 will be in the hospitality and leisure sector, with the largest increase expected in food preparation and service. Given that there are already an estimated 2 million open jobs in the sector in the US and an aging workforce, this will leave a significant gap in workers to meet demand. The labor market challenges are compounded by the sector having the highest quit rates and the greatest need for in-person work, with over 80% of workers fully on-site.

Battling over the same workers using the same approaches for restaurants, hotels, and retailers will not change the results. In fact, it is risky because while competitors act, those that do not will face higher quit rates and less engaged employees.

Three Strategies to Attract, Hire, and Retain the Best Frontline Employees

  1. Invest in Responsible AI and Thoughtful Automation According to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024, 64% of restaurant operators consider their use of technology to be mainstream, yet only 13% think their restaurant is on the leading edge compared to peers. Hiring technology can be a great starting point for investment that will enhance or even transform the experience. Given that in this industry, your candidates are often your customers, it is a great way to embrace and lead the way while also increasing speed and efficiency.
  2. Amplify Worker Voice Constantly seek feedback from your frontline workers, even if it’s hard to hear. Staffing your restaurants, stores, and properties might be step one, but to sustain operations, it is critical to continuously listen and reduce friction so team members are best equipped to deliver on the quality that is most important to guests – happy, friendly, and attentive staff.
  3. Blend Technology with Human-Centered Design 82% of US and 74% of non-US consumers want more human interaction as technology improves. It’s not that humans are resisting technology; quite the opposite. Rather, there are key moments where a human provides connectivity, empathy, and compassion that only human interaction and kindness can deliver. The human touch fosters warm connections and empathy in recruitment, meaning understanding candidates’ aspirations, anxieties, and motivations. By incorporating one or two key touchpoints in a technology-led recruitment experience, candidates have the chance to feel valued and heard as they make a life-altering decision about joining and staying with a company.

In an industry as dynamic and people-centric as retail, restaurants, hotels, and consumer goods the blend of technology and human interaction is not just beneficial – it’s essential. By investing in responsible AI and automation, amplifying the voices of your frontline workers, and ensuring a human-centered recruitment experience, you can create a more efficient, empathetic, and engaging environment that ultimately leads to achieving business outcomes.

References

One of the most prevalent questions that hiring leaders ask my team is something to the effect of, “What talent technologies should we use?” When probing a bit further, the question usually turns to how to decrease cost, increase speed, drive efficiencies, improve speed to productivity, and/or increase quality. 

Ultimately, the underlying question is, “How can we create better hiring experiences that result in significantly better business outcomes?”

Historically, we may have said that HR, and more specifically Talent Acquisition, is a laggard when it comes to having access to great technology compared to other parts of an organization. That’s no longer the case. The technology exists, but the lag now is in putting the right solutions together and orchestrating the experiences. This means that we can now lead the hiring experience design, particularly in high-volume hiring, based on technology first. 

Instead of trying to determine what recruiting teams will do and then plugging in enabling technologies based on gaps or manual tasks, lead with the technology and then determine where and how people should be activated into the experience to achieve better outcomes.

If we look at the common challenges in high-volume hiring, they are generally around high no-show rates, low retention, and a mismatch of candidate and company expectations. So, what roles should exist in a high-volume recruitment team if you already have a technology-led experience that enables application to offer in a matter of minutes?

Now the roles may not be labeled exactly as these titles or there will be some nuances in the skills and roles for your specific business. When you have successfully designed and activated a technology-first high volume solution, you likely will not need as many people. 

However, the roles and type of the work being done by people is increased in strategic value and, overall, the solution should yield materially improved business outcomes. These outcomes should be measured through sentiment analysis, time, quality, and speed, as well as linked to overall business outcomes such as productivity and sales metrics. 

Figuring out what your next 6-12 month hiring roadmap looks like can be daunting. So many variables to consider, so many new technologies, you might feel pulled in various directions. The key is not to become overwhelmed by the array of twists and turns in the HR arena, but rather to lean-in to where you see your workforce in the future and plot the steps to get there. 

With every industry showing unique needs and changes, here’s a snapshot of some of the interesting directions companies are headed in the coming months.  

Energy, Engineering and Industrials 

With a shift towards green energy, new legislation in this sector will promote more green skills as workforces evolves to become sustainable and decarbonized.  

Investment Banking 

As banks consider their internal structure, they are analyzing how technology will provide more agility to their hiring decision making. In highly regulated environments there is more of a hesitation around new technologies like AI. But some are interested in piloting technology and new tools to drive efficiencies where it is seamless to do so.  

Construction, Healthcare, Retail 

In high volume, hourly hiring – such as in the construction industry – there is a focus on leveraging a skills-based approach to determine the best fits for roles. Quality of hire remains supreme in this area of sourcing and recruiting.  

Organizations will be looking to hire more contingent labor workers as they bounce back from lower hiring volumes. A continued uncertain economic landscape across many sectors is creating a greater focus on creating flexibility in their employee make-up. 

Food and Hospitality 

In California there has been a new minimum wage applied to the fast food sector, now at $20 per hour. An interesting development that will likely have consequences to other sectors and parts of the country. This presents an additional layer of complexity to an already evolving talent acquisition landscape. 

Technology 

Companies are exploring how to source talent for supporting and driving AI technologies. There has been an increasing interest in looking into the architect and planner roles involved in implementing and setting the stage for new AI technologies. Establishing a gameplan ahead of AI usage is a strategic step that is critical to ensure compliance is met and tools are utilized properly. 

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

Organizations are looking to their location strategy to reduce cost and drive scalability/agility – with India being an area of interest for some employers. 

An important thing to think about on your talent road ahead is what your destination will look like. With every hiring destination looking a little different, each industry is going to require different TA needs and will need to adjust to the changing economic and technological landscape differently.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the TA landscape, promising increased efficiency, reduced costs, and a more nuanced approach to hiring. A McKinsey & Company study states that 40% of recruiting tasks could be automated, while current estimations suggest as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per hire could be saved using Generative AI (Gen AI). This transformation will allow TA and HR professionals to focus on strategic business issues, enhancing the quality of hires and building better teams. However, AI is difficult for companies to navigate, and many companies are still establishing their AI policies.

Speed of AI adoption is unprecedented

The rapid adoption of AI technologies underscores the public’s readiness to embrace intuitive and versatile technology. Gen AI, subset of AI technology that can generate new written, visual, and audio content by using datasets it is trained on. Gen AI also offers dynamic problem-solving capabilities and heightened personalization.

Current AI capabilities in TA

Gen AI is already enhancing efficiency and candidate experiences in several areas:

These AI applications allow TA and HR professionals to focus on more impactful work. We believe AI will unleash a productivity boom, freeing recruiters from time-consuming repetitive tasks so they can focus on what they do best – building connectivity with candidates.

Barriers and challenges to AI adoption

The fluid regulatory landscape poses challenges for AI adoption. Laws such as the NYC Bias Audit Law (effective July 2023) mandate independent audits of AI in decision-making, creating constraints for companies. Multinational firms face additional complexity with varying regulations across regions.

Enterprises buy new technology slowly. The necessary rigor around the deployment of AI tools in companies clashes with the start-up culture of the Silicon Valley. Implementing this new AI technology in organizations takes time. There is a lag between AI capabilities and when companies and their employees are willing to embrace the new technology.

Responsible AI is crucial

Responsible AI is the practice of developing and deploying AI in a fair, ethical, and transparent way. Companies have a responsibility to ensure that AI systems are aligned with human values and do not harm individuals or society. The use of AI in talent acquisition raises ethical challenges around bias, discrimination and transparency that must be carefully monitored and addressed. 

How companies are implementing AI

Companies have three primary approaches to adopt AI

Partners with global reach and ongoing investment in AI capabilities can provide on-demand access to advanced AI tech, helping organizations navigate the evolving landscape. Companies that decide to build their own AI tools will need AI engineering capability and integration resources. As AI tech evolves, continually testing for bias performance and other issues will also be required. Any company contemplating building AI tech in-house should be prepared for this level of commitment and expense. For most firms, this is impractical as their primary business endeavors consume most of their tech resources.

Future state

The future of work will be digitally driven, beginning with TA. AI will enable new ways of working, improving efficiency and candidate experiences. TA and HR leaders must prepare for a future where AI is integral to TA processes, ensuring their organizations remain competitive and attractive to top talent.

AI’s transformative power in talent acquisition is undeniable. TA and HR leaders must act now to implement AI strategies or risk falling behind. Partnering with AI experts can provide the necessary support to navigate regulatory challenges, manage ethical considerations, and realize AI’s full potential. By embracing AI, organizations can enhance their TA processes, driving success and innovation in the digital age.

To read the Future of RPO white paper, download the full report here.

We believe AI will unleash a productivity boom, freeing recruiters from time-consuming repetitive tasks so they can focus on what they do best – building connectivity with candidates.