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Mission Yogurt, the concessionaire at Denver International Airport, hopes the new weekly travel allowance will not only keep its employees happy, but also attract new talent.
The Family and Minority Hospitality Company is the only concessionaire to offer a weekly allowance of $100 to cover time spent in airport transportation and security lines.
President Rod Tafoya said in a statement, “Airports are very rewarding and fun places to work, but they can be very difficult places to get to for your shift, with parking, then going through security.” “Our weekly travel allowance is simply to show that we understand the time spent commuting to work and we value that time.”
Even before the age of Covid-19, the global business community weighed the pros and cons of passenger benefits. The discussion is particularly relevant for employers in metro areas like Denver, where long drives, traffic, gas prices and parking can turn applicants away from job opportunities.
Bloomberg LP, for example, is one of the largest corporations to jump on the trend by providing a monthly subsidy to the Washington, D.C. subway.
However, Eric Olson, district president with staffing firm Robert Half, instead pointed to Mission Weekly allowances as an example of an “extraordinary allowance” that companies are attracted to because they’re quick and don’t have to be fixed.
This ongoing trend is a response to the draw of remote work, as on-site workers compete for in-person workers in industries such as airports, he said. Still, he says, “I haven’t seen it as widespread yet because people are still trying to rely on higher wages.”
Olsen cautions companies to “proceed carefully” with special allowances and how they qualify in the accounting system — including wages and other income. “The government will come looking for their share,” he added.
Edward Van Wesep, a professor of finance at the University of Colorado at Boulder-Leeds School of Business, said that the intensity of competition in the labor market today is at a level where higher education is not required.
Overall, “it’s the tightest job market I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said in a phone interview. “In those situations, it’s very common to receive certain types of payments that aren’t regular wages, like signing bonuses.”
Van Weesep can see more companies offering similar benefits until the market cools down — and there’s no sign of that happening anytime soon.
Tafoya said the weekly allowance is meant to counter concerns employers often have about travel time to and from DIA due to construction, traffic and more.
These needs, he said, make airport operations different from those in the Denver area. “We must remove these objections.”
After a two-year Covid-19 ban, DIA has seen an influx of travelers eager to travel this year, with around 32.2 million registered in the first half of 2022. It ranks as the world’s third busiest airport, according to Airports Council International. .
During the coronavirus pandemic, Mission made only 5% of its pre-Covid sales, employing 30% of its employees.
Mission operates 14 restaurant concepts, 11 at DIA, but plans to expand to nearly 30 food, beverage and retail outlets at three airports next year. The company, which currently manages more than 500 employees nationwide, plans to add more than 300 employees next year.
After Tafoya implemented the weekly travel allowance, we heard that employees “loved it.”
A native of Denver, Tafoya founded the Mission in 1988 and brought the business to the airport in 1995, opening Sara Lee Sandwich Shop. His company owns and operates restaurant and retail locations primarily in high-traffic airports, including Dia and San Diego International Airport.
Another recent development was the creation of MissionCares, a nonprofit dollar-for-dollar matching program to provide workers with assistance for “unforeseen problems,” including medical emergencies and natural disaster recovery.
“We’ve always believed in the airport, and I truly believe it’s the best place to work in the city,” Tafoya said.
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