The sandwich chain Pret a Manger is attempting to recruit more British workers to plug the gap that the Brexit process is set to inflict on the company.
This is despite the firm’s HR chief saying last month that British people would rather not work there.
Speaking to a government committee in Parliament, Andrea Wareham, Pret’s HR head, stated that the company was facing a massive staffing problem if Brexit restricts European citizens from working in the UK.
She also noted that there is not enough British-only applicants for the jobs that Pret currently has available.
The firm is now attempting to turn to social media to pique the interest of potential British employees.
Pret’s chief executive, Clive Schlee, said in a statement:
‘We used to wait for people to come to us, but we are reaching out to more British labour through social media and job centres now.
We are very encouraged by the response and we feel that we will be able to maintain our diverse, tolerant and competitive culture, but with a higher British percentage, over time,’
However, despite the CEO’s optimism, Pret was last month forced to say, in an embarrassing u-turn, that they would now pay 16-18 year old work experience candidates, instead of offering remuneration via free sandwiches as they had previously planned.
The axed policy placed into doubt the amount of respect the firm has for its potential future employees.
Pret expects to open its 500th shop, worldwide, this year and opened over thirty stores in the UK last year alone, creating hundreds of new British jobs.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.