Working in a bar or waitressing in a local restaurant used to be a key way to earn a dollar for Australian youth, but a recent survey of Sydney hospitality businesses indicates a new trend. Employers there report that despite rising teen unemployment coupled with an ever-increasing demand for hospitality staff, employers are finding that young Aussies are unwilling ‘to do the dirty work’ and jobs are being filled with backpackers and international staff.
The News Weekly asked local businesses if they saw this problem reflected in the local area.
“I read the article and thought what a load of rubbish it was,” said David Doyle, Operations Manager at Merimbula RSL. “I believe the survey in Sydney was biased, and was focusing on employees who are just trying to get people in from overseas at a cheaper rate. The hospitality industry is reasonably well paid and I don’t have a problem getting staff. Maybe it’s harder finding youth to fill hospitality positions in Sydney because youth quite simply can’t afford to live in many areas of Sydney, but we’re in a country area where this is not a problem.”
The Merimbula RSL employs staff in a wide age bracket, from those just 18 to those in their 60s.
“And when we advertise for positions, 99 per cent of the applicants are from the local area,” Mr Doyle said.
Leslie Mutsch, Manager of the Lakeview Hotel, agreed. And she felt one big factor was that anyone employed in a licensed hospitality business had to have a “Responsible Service of Alcohol” certificate. “Overseas workers walking in over the summer don’t have them, and they won’t spend $170 getting them,” Mrs Mutsch said.
The Sydney report quoted one publican who believed that international backpackers were often better workers, but this was vehemently argued by our local operators.
“We generally have no problem filling vacancies, and I’ve found the local youth are very enthusiastic about working in our club,” said Damien Foley, CEO of Club Sapphire Merimbula. He attributes some of this enthusiasm to the region itself. “We’re lucky to be in a very beautiful part of the world where there are not very many hospitality venues,” Mr Foley said. “So there’s a bigger pool of people here who are willing to work in hospitality that you can choose from when you’re looking for staff. There’s not the industry here to create as wide a range of alternatives that the metropolitan centres offer.”
Tourism here is boom/bust according to the holiday seasons, but this seems to favour most of our local businesses.
“Our peak times for recruitment are around the holiday periods, when coincidentally a lot of the uni students come home and are seeking work. “So it’s perfect; when we are filling vacancies there are lots of local kids around who are keen for the work,” Mr Foley said. “We’re very proud of the youngsters who work for the club. They’re very enthusiastic and dedicated.”
Lauren Bloch and Stephanie Carman both work behind the bar at Club Sapphire, and have always experienced great work opportunities in the local area.
“I worked last summer here, and before that I worked for seven years in the bakery on the Main Street,” said Stephanie. “I’ve never had a problem working locally, and have held down jobs since I was 13.”
And the commitment to our local workers is clear at the Club, where Lauren has held a position despite studying at uni in Canberra. “I came home every weekend, and they kept the position open for me,” she said. “Some of my friends say it’s hard to find work around here, but I think it depends on your personality and experience.”
Even in the quieter winter months our local restaurants and bars prioritise keeping or hiring staff from the local region.
“In winter it’s harder because there are not so many shifts to fill, but in those months we don’t turn to international staff. We just divide the shifts between the staff that stay with us,” said Tony Harmey, publican of the Royal Willows Hotel Motel, Pambula.
“Our staff here multi-task; they work in the bottle shop; they work behind the bar; they clean; they do everything. I can see how the pubs and clubs in Sydney might find it hard, but I’ve always been really happy with our Australian staff.”
Although the uni student influx is an advantage during the peak summer period, the down side is the high turn-over of staff.
“The only other problem I find is that we train the staff and then they go, so we have to keep re-training staff,” said Tony. “And often we lose fantastic staff over winter.”
The metropolitan survey suggests that the lack of Australian employees is because Australian youth now prefer jobs in sectors where the pressure is less and the wages higher. “Young people are simply less willing to work in service jobs these days,” said Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee. “We live in a world where young people seek work in the information-technology world rather than cleaning toilets and serving drinks,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s about Aussies not wanting to get down and get dirty,” said Andy O’Donnell, manager of the Cheeky Mango, Merimbula.
“Hospitality can attract lots of youngsters who don’t have many qualifications, and the majority of local hospitality jobs are filled by our school-leavers with preferably a bit of training. In this day and age there’s more incentive to do whatever it takes to pay the mortgage.”
But the wage issue did seem a problem with one or two jobs in hospitality, as observed by Mark Jeffrey restaurateur of Vicolo, Merimbula.
“I have good young Aussie workers who are keen, but it’s a bit hard to get an apprentice chef. I’ve talked to others in the local industry and this seems to be a particularly difficult position to fill. And that’s because of the lower wages,” said Mr Jeffrey.
“My approach with this problem is to still prioritise finding a local chef rather than an outsider or backpackers. I want to stay supportive of the local area, and support the community that supports us. All applicants for my positions have been local and we’ve found ‘word of mouth’ has been the best way to find new staff.”
So for now it seems that the quintessential Australian jobs of pulling beers or waiting on tables are still hotly contested in our picturesque tourist area, and when the call for applicants is made its our local youngsters who are queuing up first to be considered. Cheers!
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