Hospitality industry leaders are baffled as young people snub good jobs

Australians have declined to take up a slew of available jobs in the struggling hospitality industry, despite some paying $100,000 in incentives.

Work-shy young Aussies should have their welfare cut to force them off the sofa and into hospitality jobs, a sector that is desperate for workers, according to industry figures.

It comes amid 80,000 job vacancies in restaurants, bars and hotels across the country.

Some of the city’s most iconic restaurants — including Cafe Sydney and Aria — have been forced to close their doors over the busy Christmas period because they cannot get enough staff.

“The longer this staff shortage goes on for we will need to consider closing one day of the week, which is something I would have never thought I would have to do,” Cafe Sydney’s general manager Jan McKenzie said.

Ms McKenzie said the restaurant would close on Boxing Day for the first time in years. She has also cut the lunch service on New Year’s Day but now wishes she had closed for the whole day to give her team a break.

The Aria restaurant in Sydney is offering more than $100,000 in salary to find workers. Picture: Facebook

“Although it’s one of our busiest days, it would have been better to staff to have the day off,” Ms McKenzie said.

ARIA — which overlooks The Opera House — is unable to open for lunches and has stopped it’s Tuesday night service due to the staff shortage, despite offering more than $100,000 to try to attract more workers.

Elliot Solomon, CEO of Aria-owners Solotel, expects the staff shortage to be an issue into the new year.

“We’ve hired over 200 new staff since reopening and recruitment continues to be our number one priority.”

“We still have over $100,000 in incentives on offer for any new staff who join the Solotel family this summer.”

Northern Beaches MP Jason Falinski said the staff shortage was “our chance” to axe welfare payments and push work-shy young Australians off the couch and into the hospitality workforce.

Behzad Vaziri, the bars manager at The Star, has a Bachelor in Biomedical Science from UTS but chose a career in hospitality instead. Picture: Julian Andrews

“It’s a massive chance to get people who otherwise would be long-term welfare recipients, into work and in the long term make their lives so much better,” he said.

Mr Falinski pointed to rates of $90 an hour as an added incentive. “Basically we’re paying $150k to wash dishes and take dishes off the table,” he said. “It’s a real opportunity to smooth out and get people off welfare and into the job market.”

One Nation MP Mark Latham said: “Ending the dole would force the bludgers into work, fill the labour shortage and eliminate unemployment in Australia.”

“This is a one-off opportunity that the government has blown by returning to big immigration numbers to fill the vacancies.”

But demographer Mark McCrindle warned young Australians were too comfortable at home living off “the bank of mum and dad” to go out and get a job.

“Partly it’s a generation of local Australians living with their parents, they’ve got the bank of mum and dad, they’re studying a lot later, so they haven’t had the need to get out and start earning money as used to be the case,” Mr McCrindle said.

“So while the prior generation left home and had to make their own way in the world, they’ve been able to stay at home and rely on their parents, rather than forging their character through that hourly (hospitality) role.”

Committee for Sydney deputy CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh said there had to be an attitude shift to long-term work in the sector.

“Australians typically regard these jobs as temporary, rather than long-term career pathways,” he said.

“If we’re going to fix this problem for the long term, we’re going to need a big change in mindset — we need to start thinking about hospitality as a career, not just a short-term job.”

John Green from The Australian Hotels’ Association said: “Free hospitality courses are now on offer from TAFE so there’s never been a better time to take up a hospo job.

One Nation's Mark Latham says the dole should be ended. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

“Working holiday makers, backpackers and Visa holders will take time to get back to Australia, so we really need Aussie school leavers to help fill the void,” he said.

Wes Lambert, CEO of the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association of Australia, said there are currently 80,000 hospitality jobs advertised just on Seek across the country – with Generation Z and late Millennials reluctant to take up roles in the sector.

“I think it’s imperative on high schools and the state governments to ensure that trades like hospitality are given equal footing as an option as a profession for those students either not interested in university or more interested in a trade,” he said.

“There are many positions in hospitality that pay six figures.”