Dive Brief:

• Taco Bell franchisees will host 600 hiring parties in the U.S. from April 22 to 27 to kick off the summer hiring season, the chain announced late last week. Described by Taco Bell as a "unique spin on the job fair," a hiring party matches interested applicants with job opportunities during events at the chain's stores offering on-the-spot job interviews, free food and activities, the company said.
• "At Taco Bell, we believe that creating a different sort of work place starts with a hiring process as unique as we are," chief people officer Frank Tucker said in a statement. "People are an integral part of the brand, and Hiring Parties provide job candidates with an insider's look at what makes Taco Bell restaurants a place to want to work and grow."
• Taco Bell also announced its partnership with Crew, a communication platform, whose app will allow Taco Bell employees to check their work schedules, pick up extra shifts or swap shifts on their smartphones in test locations, it said. The company also announced it will now allow store-level employees one free meal per shift at corporate-owned Taco Bell locations.

Dive Insight:

Taco Bell first announced plans for a new hiring-party recruiting process last August. With plans to hire 100,000 workers by 2022, the company said it needed to think up innovative ways beyond the standard job fair to compete for workers in a tight labor market. Taco Bell's tactic is indicative of a larger trend in talent management: the emphasis on employee experience. Recruiting practices that provide a fun and engaging experience for employees may help employers win over candidates.

With its Crew partnership, Taco Bell joins a number of other employers with large hourly workforces who have adopted technology to give employees more control over their schedules — including Walmart, which adopted a predictive scheduling app last year. Some employers put themselves at risk for violating local wage reporting laws when they require workers to call in to check if they are scheduled to work. Although only a handful of cities and one state have passed predictive scheduling laws, companies that adopt scheduling tools may be able to get out in front of the issue.