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To staff the hundreds of servers, cooks and sales associates needed at once to work new storefronts opening at Liberty Center, employers promoted career opportunities in the restaurant industry.
A front-line position can be a stepping stone to management and corporate jobs in the future, industry experts say.
“It’s the only industry where you can go from washing dishes to being general manager making six figures,” said Natalie Walston, spokeswoman for Ohio Restaurant Association.
Bibibop Asian Grill expanded from the Columbus area to Greater Cincinnati and opened Thursday its first restaurant in the region at the approximately $350 million Liberty Center development in Liberty Twp. The restaurant offers build-your-own rice bowls, rolls and salads and promotes well-being.
The lowest Bibibop pays workers is $9 an hour, and managers said they believe if they take care of employees, the employees will take care of customers.
“Our job opportunities are actually very vast,” said Stephanie Bleile, of Bibibop, during a July career fair for the new opening. “As we’re growing quickly, we want to grow from within.”
“We’re about developing our people and getting them to their career goals where they want to be,” Bleile said.
Competition between companies for quality people is stiff as the restaurant and retail industries recover from the recession, when consumer spending was tighter.
“Restaurants have been scrambling to find workers,” Walston said.
Restaurants and retailers listed approximately 567,500 workers on payroll in Ohio as of last month, up from 552,300 at the bottom of the downturn in 2010, but still less than pre-recession employment levels of over 600,000 in 2006, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services statistics. Employment grew nearly 3 percent from 2010.
What job seekers might not realize is in retail, job opportunities don’t just exist behind the cash register, said Gordon Gough, president and chief executive officer of Ohio Council of Retail Merchants.
Ohio is the headquarters of retail giants such as Cincinnati-based grocer The Kroger Co. and Columbus-based L Brands Inc., the parent company of The Limited, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Not only do these companies need employees for brick and mortar stores, there’s also need for staff in finance, technology, legal and logistics divisions, Gough said.
“I think retail’s going through a big change right now. With technology, data centers, a lot of retail is moving online,” Gough said. “Everything is big data. If it’s processing payments, if it’s creating algorithms for shopping habits, that creates a lot of behind-the-scenes jobs.”
The hunt for workers has forced those hiring to be more creative with incentives such as promoting career plans and tuition reimbursement, Walston said.
Chipotle Mexican Grill — which hasn't announced a Liberty Center location but is opening nearby in Liberty Twp. on Cincinnati-Dayton Road — held it's first-ever National Career Day in September to overcome hiring obstacles on the burrito line. The goal was to hire 4,000 people nationwide, said spokesman Chris Arnold.
The restaurants and accommodations industry sector saw the employee turnover rate rise for the fourth consecutive year in 2014 to about 66 percent, although it’s yet to return to pre-recession levels, according to the National Restaurant Association.
When back-to-school season arrived, the trickle-in of job applications slowed down at Chipotle, even though the number of openings for new crew members remained the same, Arnold said at the time.
About 280 employees were hired at The Cheesecake Factory, which did open Thursday to the public at Liberty Center. They were narrowed down from over 2,000 applications, said spokeswoman Alethea Rowe.
Cheesecake will hire someone who’s friendly and has a positive outlook even with little restaurant experience because the skills of the job can be trained, Rowe said.
“You can’t train someone to have a nice personality,” she said.
Adam Spangler moved up from being a busser at Cheesecake Factory about eight years ago, to eventually a server and trainer that traveled across the country and internationally to train staff opening new stores. He’s now bar manager at the Liberty Center restaurant.
“I honestly started with the Cheesecake Factory as a student part time in the bussing work group and I fell in love with the culture and what the company stood for and found an amazing career,” Spangler said.
“Restaurants are a great career for people that are passionate with a lot of energy. We exude being of service to people,” he said.
Now that Liberty Center is open for business doesn't mean job opportunities have ended. Businesses already open such as DAVIDsTea advertised job openings Thursday and other tenants that have yet to open such as AC Hotel by Marriott continue to hire.
One source to find remaining job opportunities online is www.liberty-center.com/Careers. About 3,500 full- and part-time jobs are expected to be created by year 2018 at Liberty Center tenants, according to Liberty Twp.
Liberty Center's first phase consists of just over 1 million-square-feet of retail, restaurant, residential and office space spread over about 65 acres at the intersection of Liberty Way, Ohio 129 and Interstate 75. A four-day grand opening celebration began Thursday but not all tenants are open yet. For example, the movie theater is expected to open early November, and the hotel, apartments and office space should be ready for occupants in January, according to developers.
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