Jetro Restaurant Depot, a national wholesale foodservice supplier, has reported significant cost savings and improved hiring efficiency through its implementation of UKG Rapid Hire, an AI-first mobile solution for high-volume, frontline hiring.
Operating 165 locations across 35 states and employing over 10,500 individuals in high-turnover roles, Jetro Restaurant Depot faced considerable recruitment challenges, particularly during the pandemic when it struggled to staff its essential business. The company previously relied on multiple sourcing and onboarding solutions, which resulted in high operational costs.
Kavir Singh, HR Director and Assistant Controller at Jetro Restaurant Depot, stated that the company incurred an average of over $2.2 million annually for candidate sourcing from 2020 to 2024, in addition to $240,000 for its onboarding platform and job postings. After a successful pilot program, Jetro fully implemented UKG Rapid Hire across all locations in January 2025.
The transition to UKG Rapid Hire led to an estimated reduction in annual sourcing and onboarding costs of at least $1.8 million in 2025, with projected annual savings of $2.2 million going forward. The AI-driven platform facilitates efficient candidate sourcing, automates screenings for policy requirements—such as verifying legal hiring age—and streamlines the overall hiring process. This automation has allowed managers to dedicate more time to qualified applicants rather than administrative tasks.
Time-to-hire has substantially improved, enabling Jetro to maintain its recruitment pace and support its business expansion plans, which include opening 11 new locations by 2027. Singh noted that the solution has made the application-to-onboarding process faster than ever, particularly for non-background check positions, and has increased both the number and quality of applicants. Jetro is currently onboarding 140 to 160 employees per week without needing secondary platforms.
Operational savings have been reinvested into employee development and process improvements, including upgrades to its learning center and exploration of further automation in time and attendance management. Jetro reports that store HR administrators and frontline managers find the solution user-friendly, with new team members quickly adapting to the system. Singh praised the UKG team’s responsiveness and support.
Amy Brar, Vice President of Product Management at UKG, commented that Jetro Restaurant Depot exemplifies how technology can deliver measurable ROI and transform hiring operations. UKG Rapid Hire integrates high-volume hiring, human capital management (HCM), and workforce management into a single platform, connecting people data with real-time workforce insights to assist organizations in smarter hiring and staffing anticipation.
