Finding and keeping top talent in the spa industry isn’t easy, especially as massage therapy schools face lower enrollment and growing demand.
As the need for high-quality spa services grows, many prospective owners are seeking the best spa franchises with staffing support. That’s why Hand & Stone built a long-term strategy to cultivate candidates that’s practical, proactive, and built to help owners scale sustainably.
Building a Franchise Workforce Development Strategy That Solves the Real Problem
Many massage therapy franchises partner with schools, but Hand & Stone took that idea further. Through deep collaboration with more than 90 massage therapy school programs across the country, the brand identified key issues, including declining awareness, financial barriers, and lack of exposure to massage therapy as a viable career.
In response, Hand & Stone developed a massage therapy recruitment strategy that goes beyond job placement. It’s a full talent pipeline built on school partnerships, grant support, and franchisee-led solutions. Plus, by leveraging the brand’s marketing expertise, the program helps schools attract more students and makes education more financially accessible through grants and tuition reimbursement programs.
Franchisees Are Seeing Results That Matter
When spa franchises are fully staffed, they can operate more efficiently, serve more guests, and retain more members. Hand & Stone supports franchisees at the local level by helping them identify labor development grant funding opportunities and, for those interested, providing resources to open their own massage therapy schools—further amplifying the profession while growing their business.
A Virginia-based spa franchise owner, for example, hired six therapists directly through these school relationships. Others have taken even bigger steps by opening schools in areas where programs were lacking, strengthening their local workforce while investing in the broader industry.
These efforts have led to hundreds of new enrollments, an increase in available therapist hours, and a reduction in turnover, solidifying Hand & Stone’s position as an industry leader in workforce development.
Massage Therapy as a Career
One of the goals of this strategy is to reframe how people view massage therapy. It’s not a last resort or side hustle! It’s a rewarding, long-term career. And with the right systems and support in place, spa and massage therapy franchise owners can help support that narrative from day one.
By helping massage therapy schools market their craft as a professional path and removing some of the financial hurdles, Hand & Stone is reaching a younger, more diverse group of future therapists and showing them what’s possible in the wellness space. For franchisees, that means access to a broader, more motivated talent pool and more opportunities to build strong teams from day one.
Recognized As an Industry Leader in Massage Therapy Recruitment
This commitment to innovation hasn’t gone unnoticed. Hand & Stone was recently honored with Franchise Update Media’s Franchise Innovation Award for Most Innovative Employee Recruiting, a recognition that validates the impact of its efforts to address workforce challenges head-on. The award highlights how the brand’s recruitment model not only benefits schools and students but also creates measurable results for franchisees by building a sustainable pipeline of licensed therapists.
Hand & Stone’s massage therapy recruitment strategy is deeply integrated into its franchise development model, giving owners confidence in their ability to hire, train, and retain top-tier talent.
If you’re looking for a spa franchise that invests in its people and gives you the tools to build a strong, sustainable team, Hand & Stone’s massage therapy recruitment strategy is worth a closer look.
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