The inside of Traditions at Scott dining hall. Due to staff shortages, Ohio Staff dining halls have opened shift-to-shift hiring. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Ohio State Dining Services is now offering on-demand employment at several locations through an app, allowing students who cannot fully commit to a schedule to work shift-by-shift to help overcome staffing shortages.
Instawork — a California-based platform— is Ohio State’s primary tool in the operation. While temporary employment agencies have been in use for years on campus, this is only the second school year in which hourly employment opportunities have been facilitated into a free app.
“An increasing number of students have the desire to work but not the time,” Dave Isaacs, the university’s spokesperson for the Office of Student Life, said. “Our goal is to let these students work when they can.”
Ohio State currently has three locations available: the Culinary Production Kitchen, Marketplace on Neil and the Ohio Union Market.
Students who use the Instawork app at Ohio State still have to be hired and undergo the same training as the other employees at their respective locations.
“The training is pretty easy and manageable for untraditional employees,” Mike Sweeney, a fourth-year in air transportation and student delivery driver, said.
While developing skills for the specific positions is crucial, Isaacs said building soft skills — ones that employers will seek after graduation — is a focal point for this operation.
Still in its early phase, Ohio State is waiting to analyze the effectiveness of such an employment method before promoting it broadly.
“It is available. Our focus is hiring students,” Isaacs said. “We see the potential but want to make sure it works.”
