NSW hospitality venues desperate for young Australians to take up jobs

Rising wage costs at bars and other hospitality venues during the Covid-19 pandemic have been passed on to customers, with the usual avenues to find workers shut off.

Customers are footing the bill for increased hospitality staffing costs with bars, restaurants and hotels having to offer bonuses and other incentives to workers amid a labour shortage.

In some businesses the ballooning wage bills are being offset by the roaring domestic trade while borders remain closed.

Australian Hotels Association chief executive Stephen Ferguson said: “It could get passed on to the consumer, or the cost might be absorbed by the business.”

Mr Ferguson said businesses were offering “longevity bonuses” for staff who stick around, or even covering housing costs for skilled workers like chefs — particularly in regional areas.

The Orient Hotel in The Rocks.

“Even though unemployment is still above five per cent in Australia, we just can’t find those people who want to work,” he said.

Economists say pockets of one-off increases in prices would not lead to broadscale wage jumps or inflation.

BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese said although there were labour shortages in parts of the economy, it was premature to worry about inflation.

“Hospitality is some of the lowest paid jobs in the economy so if there is wage increases there, that’s exactly what the RBA wants to see as the whole point of almost zero per cent interest is to have a tighter jobs market and pressure on wages,” Mr Bassanese said.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said there was no sign of economy-wide pressure on wages, only short term bottlenecks in certain sectors like hospitality due to the “distorting” effects of the pandemic.

“There’s no doubt this will result in some wages growth in this area but it’s hard to see it as a broader push because once borders reopen the demand in hospitality will resume to more normal levels and returning backpackers will fill those job gaps,” he said.

Meanwhile, staff-related costs have been the biggest financial burden on bars, pubs and clubs during the pandemic, according to a survey of 167 venues conducted for Bundaberg Rum’s Raising The Bar initiative.

Bars, pubs and clubs now need Covid-marshals for their venues, which has placed a greater strain on their budgets.

Bartender William Birbeck at the Orient Hotel in The Rocks. Picture: Richard Dobson

Orient Hotel manager Craig Wesker said finding staff had been “really difficult”, with the once reliable flow of backpackers and international students gone due to border closures.

“Since Covid-19 we have had to definitely put extra staff on to do the registration and check in at the front doors,” Mr Wesker told The Daily Telegraph.

Cocktail bartender William Birkbeck-Martin has had to pick up extra shifts to keep venues running, and is encouraging other Australians to take up a hospitality role, having found it “very rewarding”.

Originally published as NSW hospitality venues desperate for young Australians to take up jobs