ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT RESTAURANT PROFESSIONALS BACK TO WORK
Aaron Allen, a longtime restaurant industry consultant who has personally led assignments in 70 countries, noticed something when traveling to the Middle East and elsewhere: Banks were recruiting from the restaurant industry. “Restaurants are a hunting ground to find tellers and other positions that interact with the public,” he says.
In fact, Allen says, traits of restaurant workers are in high demand in many fields—traits such as empathy, compassion, attentiveness, and helping people before being asked to. Many companies, he says, appreciate the restaurant industry ethos of getting one’s hands dirty and doing whatever needs to be done. Restaurant workers, he says, would “much rather the restaurant be busy than slow.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now being used to help those workers take the skills gained in foodservice and apply them elsewhere.
A new Talent Exchange is providing valuable opportunities for people in need of jobs by quickly matching them with companies hiring, using AI. A number of big-name corporations are involved, including Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Giovanni Foods, Instacart, United Airlines, Hertz, Walgreens, Mondelez, Walmart, Macy’s and Lowe’s. McKinsey & Company, the management-consulting firm, is also a key backer.