NewsroomBusiness & Management
AirSHIFT, a Shift Management Service that Makes Communication and Creation Easier, Adds Shift Creation Assist Function to Make Shift Creation More Efficient
Jul 19, 2018 | Recruit
A new feature that automatically creates shifts using staff preferences facilitated by AI.
Recruit Lifestyle announced today that AirSHIFT, a shift management service that makes communication and creation easier, has launched a Shift Creation Assist Function that automatically creates shifts based on staff requests using AI technology.
About AirSHIFT: https://airregi.jp/shift/
Background
Using AI to reduce the time spent on creating shifts
From collecting requests to making adjustments, shift management requires an average of 15 hours per month*¹, which is a huge workload for store managers and shift supervisors. Following the release of AirSHIFT in April, we received feedback that time spent on shift management had decreased by 70%. To further reduce the workload and improve efficiency, the newest feature uses AI to create shifts, which typically accounts for approximately 2.4 hours*² of the average 15 hours per month spent on overall shift creation.
▼ Workflow in shift management
Worsening labor shortage makes shift creation more difficult as shorter shifts are rising in preference
Since 2011, the number of people who can work standard working hours in Japan has decreased due to the country’s intensifying labor shortage. In addition, more than 70% of students and homemakers wanting to work part time prefer to work in short shifts of five hours or less.*³ This preference makes it necessary for store managers and shift supervisors to check each shift request submitted by staff to create shifts, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. We want to enable efficiency by solving the inconveniences and shortcomings in this field that we have found through interviews with more than 300 store managers.
New feature details
The Shift Creation Assist function automatically creates shifts based on shift requests collected from the staff in advance. If the manager modifies the automatically created shifts, the AI learns the pattern and uses it for the next automatic creation. The more the system is used, the more accurate the shift creation becomes, improving work efficiency.
We have received comments from store managers who participated in the preliminary demonstration experiment, such as, "it's almost perfect," "the member composition is great," and "it can schedule in 30 seconds." The original algorithm developed for this function to assist shift creation is pending patent.
*1 Survey by Recruit Jobs with Macromill (as of 2013)
*2 Survey by Recruit Jobs with Macromill (as of 2015)
*3 According to a survey of 2,500 job seekers conducted by Recruit Jobs in 2015.
About AirSHIFT
AirSHIFT is a shift management service that simplifies shift creation, scheduling, and communication with staff. It eliminates the cumbersome work involved in shift management and can be completed with a single service. In addition, AirSHIFT can be linked to ShiftBoard, a shift management and payroll application operated by Recruit Lifestyle (with 3.2 million downloads as of May 12, 2018), allowing staff to submit, check, and contact their shifts anytime and anywhere. This system eliminates cumbersome communication for store managers and staff.
Main functions:
Collect shifts: Collect attendance and absence requests. Receive automatic reminders for employees to submit their desired shifts and automatic reflection of desired shifts in the shift chart.
Create shifts: Switch between daily, weekly, half-monthly, and monthly shifts. Display the number of employees required by time zone. Add, delete, and edit shifts. Enter "busy" marks on the shift chart, save shift drafts, automatically create shifts, and improve automatic creation accuracy using AI.
Adjust shifts: Request staff to adjust shifts and automatically alert staff of unanswered requests.
Shift sharing: Share shift charts with staff and download and print PDFs of shift charts.
Chat communication: Message and reply to staff requests.
Staff management: Aggregate shift hours for each staff member, manage staff by group, and download shift charts by CSV.
AirSHIFT price and how to start using
Price: The first two months will be the free trial period
Since the free campaign will be in effect until July 31, 2018, the fees listed will not be applied until August 1, 2018.
Prices do not include tax.
Charges are based on the number of users from the first to the last day of each month.
If the number of users changes within the same month, the fee will be determined based on the maximum number of users during the month.
How to start using:
Register your AirID (account) by entering the necessary information from "Account Registration" on the following website.
If you already have an AirID from another Air service, you do not need to register.
ShiftBoard can link to AirSHIFT
ShiftBoard is a smartphone application (available for iOS and Android) for part-time workers to manage their shifts and calculate payroll. As of May 12, 2018, it has been downloaded more than 3.2 million times.
Conveniently use it by linking with AirSHIFT.
Main functions:
1. Shift management: Input and display of shifts and synchronization with smartphone calendars.
2. Simple salary calculation: Calculate estimated salary, check affected taxes and insurance premiums, and manage monthly income pace management.
Functions that can be used in conjunction with AirSHIFT:
3. Submit shifts: Submit desired shifts and check confirmed shifts.
4. Adjust shifts: Submit requests for missed, changed, or replaced shifts. Respond to attendance requests and send messages to stores and other staff.
Price: Free
Click here to read the original press release.