{"id":1932,"date":"2026-02-08T14:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/?p=1932"},"modified":"2026-03-27T09:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:36:10","slug":"zoomshift-labor-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use ZoomShift&#8217;s Labor Forecast to Keep Labor Costs Down"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>These days, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a startup, small business, or Fortune 500 company that\u2019s <em>not<\/em> concerned with reducing labor costs. There are dozens of ways to reduce costs, from reviewing compensation packages to reducing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/employee-turnover\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">employee turnover<\/a> and even cross-training employees, so you aren\u2019t so dependent on one employee\u2019s skills.<\/p>\n<p>While those things can definitely make a difference, it\u2019s equally important to leverage technology to help you make more informed decisions. AI and software automation tools are rapidly disrupting many industries since they can effectively eliminate or significantly reduce manual or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/redundant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">redundant<\/a> processes.<\/p>\n<p>One area now easily accessible to businesses of all sizes is labor forecasting. By consistently comparing weekly revenue against budgeted labor costs, you can optimize workforce efficiency and uncover significant savings opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZoomShift<\/a> empowers you to track your staffing budget in real time and make immediate adjustments \u2014 so you can scale up on busy days and reduce costs during slower periods.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/70fhPtX8wbw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" class=\"no-lazyload\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"eliminate-budgetary-blind-spots-maximize-your-staffing-efficiency\"><\/span>Eliminate Budgetary Blind Spots &amp; Maximize Your Staffing Efficiency<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to maximizing your staffing efficiency, it&#8217;s crucial that you measure your company\u2019s revenue and actively compare it to your team\u2019s labor costs. Not just on an annual basis, but a weekly and monthly one. That level of granularity will help you catch little staffing inefficiencies that may snowball into large unnecessary costs in the long run.<\/p>\n<p>ZoomShift allows you to enter labor costs into your schedules and automatically calculate payroll based on the hours entered. It also helps you avoid unnecessary labor costs by showing you inconsistencies in your schedule in real-time. With its powerful automation, you get more free time to tackle complex tasks only you can do.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s dive into more specifics:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Create Rules &amp; Conditions to Simplify Your Workflow<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re new to auditing your labor costs, it\u2019s important to find a way to make the process easy. Otherwise, you\u2019ll likely abandon the task altogether. With Zoomshift, you can put this new habit on autopilot. To begin, <a href=\"https:\/\/help.zoomshift.com\/article\/21-managing-team-members\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">enter each employee<\/a> and their hourly wages into Zoomshift.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"936\" height=\"650\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18.png 936w, https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18-768x533.png 768w, https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18-435x302.png 435w, https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/word-image-18-91x63.png 91w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" class=\"wp-image-1934 no-lazyload\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Once that\u2019s complete, you can create <a href=\"https:\/\/help.zoomshift.com\/article\/7-shift-error-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shift error rules<\/a> to make you aware of conflicts and overlaps between shifts, availability, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/time-off-tracking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">time-off requests<\/a>, and, more importantly, overtime. Setting up such rules can dramatically reduce unnecessary labor costs and is the key to this entire process.<\/p>\n<p>With all your employees&#8217; data and rules in place, you can simply drag shifts around on the calendar to make your selection. If any employee is at risk of working overtime, the system will flag the error to alert you. If you get flagged, you can easily drag-and-drop shifts around to keep your costs down.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Kickstart the Audit &amp; Identify Cost-Cutting Opportunities<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Now that you have rules and data to work with, you can get down to business. ZoomShift will give you a labor cost summary for each employee for each timeframe you\u2019ve selected. You can view it on the calendar for the entire month or narrow the view down to do a weekly review by employee.<\/p>\n<p>If your revenue fluctuates by day of the week, you can easily compare the revenue received on higher volume days with corresponding labor costs in ZoomShift. Use those insights to properly staff your shifts and reduce unnecessary costs.<\/p>\n<p>Another great feature of ZoomShift\u2019s labor forecast tool is the ability to filter by team members, positions, and locations. Using that filter, you can maximize the efficiency of every aspect of your business.<\/p>\n<p>For example, suppose your Customer Success team booked unnecessary overtime last October. In that case, you can pull that data from ZoomShift to help forecast the necessary labor costs this year and make more appropriate staffing decisions this time around.<\/p>\n<p>You can do all this work behind the scenes before anyone sees the final schedule, and when your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/restaurants-set-and-stick-to-labor-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">labor budget<\/a> and revenue line up perfectly, you can push the schedule live.<\/p>\n<p>The simplicity of ZoomShift\u2019s labor forecast tool is the secret to its success. Once you\u2019ve entered the necessary data and set up your rules, you can easily drag shifts around, review previous labor costs, and more accurately predict your company\u2019s staffing needs. All of which saves you precious money, time, and resources.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you have any questions about whether ZoomShift is right for your business, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>click here<\/strong><\/a><strong> and click Demo in the top right corner of the screen to chat directly with our sales team.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019d like to jump right into a free trial, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/app.zoomshift.com\/accounts\/new\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>click here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These days, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a startup, small business, or Fortune 500 company that\u2019s not concerned with reducing labor costs. There are dozens of ways to reduce costs, from reviewing compensation packages to reducing employee turnover and even cross-training employees, so you aren\u2019t so dependent on one employee\u2019s skills. While those things can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Use ZoomShift&#039;s Labor Forecast to Keep Labor Costs Down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zoomshift&#039;s labor forecast gives you the power to compare your staffing budget in real-time and make changes instantly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use ZoomShift&#039;s Labor Forecast to Keep Labor Costs Down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zoomshift&#039;s labor forecast gives you the power to compare your staffing budget in real-time and make changes instantly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zoomshift\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-08T20:34:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T14:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZoomShifts-Labor-Forecast.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1138\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"493\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JD Spinoza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JD Spinoza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use ZoomShift's Labor Forecast to Keep Labor Costs Down\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-08T20:34:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T14:36:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e23c4b55eead5e752c5f361c9d670e63\"},\"description\":\"Zoomshift's labor forecast gives you the power to compare your staffing budget in real-time and make changes instantly.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/zoomshift-labor-forecast\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Use ZoomShift&#8217;s Labor Forecast to Keep Labor Costs Down\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Zoomshift\",\"description\":\"SMB Management Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e23c4b55eead5e752c5f361c9d670e63\",\"name\":\"JD Spinoza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a95e64e4714f0d96cfab797f042000d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a95e64e4714f0d96cfab797f042000d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"JD Spinoza\"},\"description\":\"JD enjoys teaching people how to use ZoomShift to save time spent on scheduling. 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