Two years and counting: Moreton suburb where job ads run forever and staff are shared

A key coastal dining strip has resorted to sharing staff, swapping job applicants and cutting trading hours in a desperate bid to stay open while job ads go unanswered for two years.

A key coastal dining hub has resorted to sharing staff, swapping job applicants and cutting back trading hours in a desperate bid to keep their doors open while some have kept job advertisements open for two years with no success.

The waterfront on Redcliffe Parade was described as a ‘ghost town’ on Mondays and Tuesdays by Sara Ciancio from Mamma’s Italian Restaurant, who had to work the breakfast shift for another business that also cannot find new staff.

The Rustic Olive has been forced to cut its opening hours, now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and closed for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The crux of the issue is what business owners describe as the unwillingness of people to work the hours, prioritising their lifestyles or applicants lacking the necessary skills and training.

Sara Ciancio from Mamma’s Italian Restaurant, Redcliffe, said jobseekers seemed to have disappeared overnight. Picture: Aaron Goodwin

Cactus Jack’s Redcliffe owner Rob Griffiths had an ad for two kitchen staff running for two years and is still chasing people to fill those positions, as well as front of house staff.

“Prior to Covid-19 you’d put an ad on Seek and you’d get 150 applicants, of which 20 that were worth interviewing,” Mr Griffiths said.

“The latest ad we put up had 11 applicants and the report you get from Seek was that was performing above average.

“My thoughts on it are, particularly in the kitchen, it’s a specialised area, a lot of faith’s been lost in the industry with Covid-19 chopping and changing what you can and can’t do.

“We’ve had to have more staff on because there’s not the same skillset that was out there

“Instead of having half-a-dozen full-time positions, you’re more spread across 12 less qualified guys doing 20 hours a week instead of less guys doing 40 hours.”

The Rustic Olive at Redcliffe has been forced to slash its opening hours as it battles staff shortages. Picture AAPImage/ David Clark

Ms Ciancio said she’s still looking for three front of house staff members, adding all businesses across Redcliffe are screaming out for staff.

“I just like to know how they’ve (job applicants) disappeared overnight because it wasn’t like this even during Covid-19,” Ms Ciancio said.

“Surely people still need to work in order to pay mortgages and rent.

“It’s not good, I don’t know what everybody is doing for money.

“Because we’re a family run business, it just means we work longer hours than we would everyday.

“I’ve been working seven days a week now since April.”

Sara Ciancio from Mamma’s Italian Restaurant, Redcliffe, has had to work shifts at neighbouring businesses. Picture: Aaron Goodwin

Heading into the Christmas holiday period, Mr Griffiths is unsure if Cactus Jack’s will have extended opening hours like it usually does due to staffing shortages.

“That comes down to not hammering staff,” Mr Griffiths said.

“The problem used to be finding enough hours for staff, to make sure they all got a fair go.

“Now it’s matter of making sure we’re not hammering the same staff week-in week-out.

“Way back when Covid-19 first started, you’re looking at the real go-getters in your industry, your managers and such, they aren’t the ones who are going to sit around and see what happens.

“They went and got other jobs in other industries and therefore realised, I don’t have to do these late nights and weekends, so they’ve stayed in other industries.”

The Oasis on the Esplanade owner Steve Bugarski said the business is having a hard time attracting job applicants to fill positions.

The Rustic Olive’s owner Sam Ayache said since the end of Covid-19 lockdown, across all industries people have developed a new mindset where they want to change careers work less hours and focus on lifestyle.

“The juniors aren’t coming through,” Mr Ayache said.

“McDonalds is 110,000 staff short nationwide.

“It doesn’t matter how many subsides and apprentices the government puts out, they don’t wanna do it.

“Finding manpower is hard at the moment.

“For now we will work shorter hours and save what we have

“I don’t want anymore burnout or lost of staff.”