'Why would you work for $22 an hour in a day shift in an environment where you could be abused and have to deal with drunks?” The hospitality industry is crying out for staff as the lowest unemployment rate since the 1970s has led to labour shortages.
Census data from 2016 shows hospitality was among the industries most reliant on temporary migrant workers before the pandemic.
Scott Connolly at his Orrong Hotel has had to be “nimble” in response to staff shortages and the pandemicThere are anecdotal stories of hefty wage rises for some more senior hospitality roles, yet Bureau of Statistics wage price index data shows overall growth is still subdued at 2.4 per cent in the year to June 2022.
Where once he would have hired temporary migrants, he’s now turned to less experienced workers. “The big difference is the 24 to 25-year-old migrant worker who was here on a visa and has had some life experience; they’re gone,” he says.“We ended up hiring 18 or 19-year-old kids who never really had a job before.”
A worker from one of Sydney’s giant clubs, Dave, who preferred not to name his current employer to protect himself from repercussions, says the pandemic opened up options for hospitality workers. “You’re expected to have 24/7 availability, and you get paid $22 an hour … it’s almost impossible to plan in advance what you’re going to be doing. Hospitality customer service has so long been treated as unskilled work [but] it couldn’t be further from the truth.”It has also been a sector beset by wage theft; one of the worst few in the country according to the Fair Work Ombudsman while media investigations unearthed widespread labour abuses, in particular at leading restaurants.
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