Price Chopper chops hiring costs with web-based application

Price Chopper Supermarkets has found that making job applications available via in-store web-enabled kiosks and PCs and at its web site has increased the pool of applicants for store openings, Tom Nowak, senior vice president of information technology for Price Chopper, tells InternetRetailer.com. The program appears to have reduced employee turnover, Nowak says. The program has been in place for only about six months and thus is too new for the supermarket to determine other benefits yet, Nowak says.

Prospective employees provide an e-mail address when they fill out a form at the web site. The program automatically screens applicants. An applicant whose qualifications meet the job’s requirements receives an e-mail with information about the next steps to take in the hiring process.

The program has streamlined the process enough and made enough highly qualified applicants available to Price Chopper that the system has already paid for itself, Nowak says.

In addition to applying on in-store kiosks, applicants also can apply at PCs in work station cubicles that the company also uses for HR administration and training.