Hire baristas who actually show up.
In 2 days.
HeyHire fills barista, counter staff, and kitchen roles with local, pre-screened candidates. You just pick who to interview.
Cafe hiring is broken.
Your morning rush doesn't wait. When you're short-staffed, the line backs up, drinks slow down, and regulars start going elsewhere.
Seven out of ten cafe employees leave within a year. You spend more time training replacements than building a team.
Between recruiting, training, and the weeks of slower service while new hires get up to speed, every departure is expensive.
Nearly a month to fill one barista position. That's a month of overworked staff, longer wait times, and declining ticket averages.
We built HeyHire after watching cafe owners pull their own espresso shots because a barista called out sick and hiring takes weeks.
Here’s exactly
how it works.
You do the easy part. We do everything else.
Post in 60 seconds.
- Publish your opening and we push it to local candidates automatically.
- SMS blasts, job map, social network. All handled for you.
Post in 60 seconds.
- Publish your opening and we push it to local candidates automatically.
- SMS blasts, job map, social network. All handled for you.
We screen. You review.
- AI filters every applicant by experience, availability, and proximity.
- You only see candidates who are actually worth your time.
We screen. You review.
- AI filters every applicant by experience, availability, and proximity.
- You only see candidates who are actually worth your time.
Text, interview, hire.
- Message candidates directly and they self-schedule interviews.
- Go from first message to hired in 2 days.
Text, interview, hire.
- Message candidates directly and they self-schedule interviews.
- Go from first message to hired in 2 days.
What happens when you stop relying on job boards
Hiring tools built for
how cafes actually operate
Post a Role in 60 Seconds
Barista, counter staff, shift lead, baker, kitchen prep. Select the role, set your shift requirements, and your opening is live across HeyHire's local network before the morning rush.
- Pre-built templates for every cafe position
- Set shift patterns: opens, mid, close
- Unlimited posts across all locations
Create New Position
Reach Candidates Who Live Nearby
Cafes open early. You need people who can be there at 5:30 AM without a 45-minute commute. HeyHire targets candidates within a short distance of your shop.
- Hyper-local targeting within commuting distance
- SMS outreach to candidates already in coffee/food service
- Your opening reaches phones, not buried inboxes
AI Screening That Gets Cafe Culture
Every applicant is automatically scored on coffee experience, latte art skills, early morning availability, and proximity. Your dashboard shows a ranked shortlist.
- Filters by specialty coffee experience
- Early morning availability matching
- Proximity ranking so you hire locals who stay
Mia Alvarez
Text Candidates Directly
Baristas start their days at 5am. SMS is the only channel that reaches them before the morning rush.
- Two-way SMS chat from your dashboard
- 85% response rate within 15 minutes
- No app download required for candidates
Interviews That Book Themselves
Slot interviews into your 2pm lull.
- One-tap self-scheduling via SMS link
- Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud
- Automated reminders reduce no-shows by 60%
Interview Invitation
Select a time that works for you
Bright Cup Coffee
Lead Barista
View their availabilityEverything else under the hood
Video screening, payroll sync, analytics, and more. Enterprise-grade tools built for cafe operations.
Barista Reel
90-second video intros. See a candidate's personality and latte art before they step behind your counter.
Learn moreEarly Bird Screen
Auto-reject filters for missing requirements. AI matches candidates who can actually open at 5 AM.
Learn moreShop Analytics
Track time-to-fill by location. See which shops need staffing attention before regulars start noticing.
Learn morePOS & Payroll Sync
Square, Toast, ADP, Gusto. New hires flow into your systems automatically.
Learn moreMulti-Shop Dashboard
One login for your cafe group. Bulk post across locations, or share great candidates between shops.
Counter QR Posters
Custom QR posters for each location. Place them at the register for walk-in applicants.
Roaster & Guest Wi-Fi CTA
A lightweight “We’re training baristas” callout for customers already reading your single-origin copy online—before they even walk in for a flat white.
Lunch-Dead-Zone Interviews
Block off the post-morning, pre-3 p.m. lull for tastings and tryouts when bar flow is still steady but the line is manageable.
Learn moreCortado-Program Culture Pages
Shop pages that show dial-in, milk science, and cupping style so applicants know you’re serious about craft, not just a generic counter job.
4am Bike-Lane Reach
Prioritize candidates within a pre-dawn realistic radius (bike, short drive, or first bus) so opens don’t fail when weather turns.
Syrup-Station Inbox
Text threads that stay on one screen while you’re in the weeds—no more DM screenshots floating between the shift lead and the owner in two apps.
Learn moreShift-Lead to Multi-Unit Owners
Permissions for shops that share a roaster but not the same P&L, so GMs, regional trainers, and HQ each see the barista pipeline they should see.
I was opening my second location and couldn't find a single barista for three weeks. A friend told me about HeyHire. I posted the role on a Tuesday and had four qualified baristas in my inbox by Thursday. Hired two of them. Both are still with us.
Frequently asked questions
Start by tagging the equipment right inside the job template—La Marzocco, Slayer, Synesso, or even your vintage lever setup if that is your vibe. HeyHire lets you stack that hardware signal next to the usual Q-grader or latte art preferences, and the AI pass sorts candidates by both craft skills and the shifts you are trying to protect. The SMS thread then becomes a quick place to ask a barista to describe their dial-in process on that exact machine, without sending them a ten-page application first. You can also route applicants by shop if you have different lineups across the city, so a Linea classic bar does not drown in Mazzer-only resumes. The practical upshot: your morning team spends more time on extraction and service, and less time guessing whether a hire can truly keep up on your gear during the rush. In many cafes we work with, this alone cuts the “one-week trial that fails” problem because the conversation starts with the equipment conversation every serious barista already cares about, long before a formal interview, which keeps the cortados flowing even when a shift lead is out with the flu. That is the difference between hiring warm bodies and hiring true bar flow partners.
All hourly cafe roles: baristas, counter staff, shift leads, bakers, kitchen prep, dishwashers, and delivery drivers. If the role keeps your cafe running, HeyHire can fill it.
Yes. HeyHire's multi-location dashboard lets you manage hiring across all your shops from one login. Each location gets its own branded hiring page, QR code posters, and local talent pool. You can also share top candidates between locations when someone is a better fit at a sister shop.
Early morning availability is the #1 challenge for cafe hiring, and it's exactly where HeyHire excels. We filter candidates specifically by their willingness to work opening shifts. Plus, our proximity targeting means you're reaching people who live close enough that a 5 AM start is actually feasible.
Indeed and Craigslist are built for office jobs. They rely on email, which cafe candidates rarely check. HeyHire uses SMS — 98% open rate vs. email's 20%. We also pre-screen every applicant by experience and availability, so you never waste time reviewing unqualified applications. And our local-first approach means you're reaching people who actually live near your cafe.
For salaried leadership roles like Shop Managers and District Managers, we recommend our sister company MenuTalent. They specialize in executive hospitality search with an average 21-day placement time and a fixed-fee structure. Visit menutalent.com to learn more.
Absolutely. Cafes see staffing swings around summer, holidays, and back-to-school. HeyHire's speed is built for exactly this. Bulk post roles across positions, get a wave of local applicants via SMS, and staff up in days. Pause postings with one click when things slow down.
Yes. HeyHire integrates with Square, Toast, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, and 50+ other payroll, POS, and scheduling tools commonly used by cafes. New hires sync automatically so you can skip the manual data entry.
HeyHire works across industries
Fully staffed by this weekend.
15 minutes is all it takes. We'll walk through your shops, your roles, and show you exactly how HeyHire fills them faster than anything you've tried.