Employees Use Shyft App to Trade Hours

For the past year, hourly employees at restaurants and chains like Starbucks, McDonald’s and Old Navy have been able to personally find and schedule coworkers to cover their work shifts  by using a new app called Shyft.

Rather than penciling in doctor’s appointments and vacation days onto calendars, employees use the app. Any scheduling may be swapped by employees directly through Shyft, according to Bloomberg Technology.

Shyft has signed up 12,000 workers from U.S. Starbucks stores, more than 7,500 employees at McDonald’s and more than 3,500 at Old Navy, according to the company.

During the past three months, the company has grown its user base by 400 percent, and workers using the app have exchanged an equivalent of 26,000 hours on the app, according to Shyft.

“Shift workers want flexibility in their schedules but until now, changing schedules required a convoluted and time consuming chain of disconnected social media channels and phone calls,” says Shyft founder and CEO Brett Patrontash.”Shyft connects workers directly with others at their location and lets them quickly and easily exchange and cover shifts. The viral growth speaks to the overwhelming desire of hourly workers to exert more control over their work schedules.”

The app improves communication efficiency, Chris Pitchford, director of growth at Shyft, says.

“Managers can eliminate hundreds of phone calls and texts regarding shift swaps and approve them right on the app,” Pitchford says. “Managers can send announcements to their team, distribute weekly schedules easily, set up private groups and message team members.”

Shyft is accessible for free for any business, and Pitchford says that 90 percent of business and store locations in North America are already stored in Shyft. Additionally, anyone can add a new location with a few clicks. Any number of people from a business can use it, but teams of six or more will most likely get the most out of the app, Pitchford says.

When asked how independent home improvement store owners could take advantage of the app, he says they could use Shyft to move internal communication to one location.

“Instead of calling and texting your whole team when something comes up, you can simply post a shift you need covered and your whole team will be notified,” Pitchford says. “You don’t need to share phone numbers to message coworkers and you have a private news feed for your store to share store updates, announcements and have some fun.”

For retailers or employees who would like to check out Shyft, click this link to download the app.