SALT LAKE CITY— A Utah company is helping local businesses fill their temporary staffing needs with an app called Bacon, which lets employers select and hire employees and allows job seekers to pick and choose shifts.
“The way people want to work these days is much more flexible than the traditional model,” said Bacon CEO Hunter Sebresos, noting that he and his team discovered a niche they knew they could fill.
Sebresos works with companies looking to fill short-term jobs and allows them to post those listings on the app. He said those employers benefit by saving the time and expense of interviewing from a “temp agency.”
Taylor Brantly, a Hogle Zoo employee who has posted temporary jobs through Bacon four times, says the app makes her job easier.
"It's easier to schedule (employees), you can see their photos, it's more personable," she said likening Bacon to a "dating app but for co-workers and employees."
Sebresos said he hopes the app will give job seekers the experience they are looking for "whether they are doing it on the side, whether they are doing it in between jobs, or whether they want to do this all the time and experience new things."
Kelsie Wadsworth recently signed up on the app and has worked two jobs that she found through it. One of those was a catering event she worked Thursday at the Hogle Zoo.
"I can make cotton candy now, I couldn't do that before" she said with a smile.
Wadsworth noted that she “was doing some teaching during the school year" but is currently looking for work. "In the meantime I thought why not just go for a day to make a hundred bucks,” she said.
Since January, nearly 3,500 workers have signed up in Texas and in Utah. The company said it can also quickly conduct multiple background checks needed for any job safety level.