Pizza chain offers slice of action to jobless Kiwis
Domino’s on a hiring drive and needs staff both in-store and as delivery drivers
Awoman who rose through the ranks from pizza delivery to a top corporate role wants people thrown out of work by the pandemic to join her. Alex Whale started at pizza franchise Domino’s as a delivery driver and dishwasher when she was in high school.
Now, at 24, she has been appointed the company’s Corporate Regional Manager in charge of three stores as well as developing teams and training new franchisees nationwide.
The company is on its second recruitment drive in New Zealand this year. Whale said the positions available would be perfect for people who have lost their jobs because of Covid19.
“It’s all about attitude and if people have the right attitude and are openminded they can do really well,” she said. “There are so many challenges and opportunities every day and the company is big on promoting from within.”
Domino’s made headlines last month when Australian CEO Don Meiji snapped up a $6 million mansion on the Gold Coast — he started as a pizza delivery boy.
In New Zealand, there had been other success stories.
Hawke’s Bay brothers Kaydyn and Liam Stops bought their first store in Rotorua when they were just 19 and 18 making them Domino’s youngest franchisee owners. Since then they have purchased stores in Rotorua and Taupo and, as of April this year, Domino’s Whakata¯ne.
Both worked their way up from dishwashers to handling customers, and finally managing staff.
Like Kaydyn and Liam Stops Whale said the skills learned on the job at Domino’s had set her up for success and were transferable to any industry.
“There’s training in food preparation and safety, customer service, inventory, marketing and profit and loss and those are skills you can use in plenty of careers,” she said.
Whale never saw Domino’s as “her forever job” when she first started in 2013 but said there was so much career advancement there was never any reason to leave.
Domino’s New Zealand General Manager Cameron Toomey said the company was on a hiring drive and needed more staff both in-store and as delivery drivers.
He said it was “a privilege to offer jobs to many New Zealanders who had lost work because of Covid-19”.
Just this week retailer The Warehouse announced 950 jobs would go and earlier this month the Herald revealed Auckland Council was planning to cut about 500 jobs due to the financial impact of Covid-19.
Toomey was humbled to have “an opportunity to give successful candidates the reassurance that they not only have a new job to go to but a possible career”.
Available positions ranged from driver, pizza maker, e-bike rider, customer service or franchisee. There were full and part-time roles on offer.
“Experience and qualifications are wonderful but attitude is something you can’t teach. If you’ve got the right attitude then we can train you in everything else,” he said.