1 optimization problems
Weekly shift scheduling for a restaurant, café, or retail store with 8–40 staff. Each day has 2–3 shifts (morning, afternoon/evening, night) and each shift needs a fixed mix of roles (servers, cashier, kitchen, sales associate). The decision: which employee, which day, which shift, which role. Legal constraints (a weekly hour cap, rest periods between shifts, weekly rest day), employee availability, skill/certification requirements, and weekly demand swings must hold at the same time. Manual scheduling is workable up to ~10 staff; above that, the weekly plan takes the manager 3–6 hours and is still revised 2–3 times after staff push back.