A new survey conducted by the Australian Hotels Association to 83 key publicans across the state has revealed the hospitality workforce is sitting at just 61 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.“This is the worst we’ve seen because it’s coming on the back of a health crisis which has turned into a business and economic crisis,” said Paddy O’Sullivan, who is the chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association.“Hospitality has been the hardest hit – we’re always the first to be locked down or restricted.”The uncertainty of being repeatedly plunged in and out of lockdown has been a key driver in thousands of local workers fleeing the industry in search for greater job certainty.Closed international borders has also led to a severe shortage of foreign students and skilled migrant workers, with almost all forced to leave the country at the beginning of the pandemic.Mr O’Sullivan has joined Restaurant and Catering CEO Wes Lambert in calling on the federal government to fast track at least 100,000 special hospitality visas. Previously, visa holders were offered permanent residency as part of their employment opportunity.“It is clear that it will take more than onshore Australians to fix this problem,” Mr Lambert said.“This is the worst workforce crisis for hospitality in the history of Australia.” Hospitality job advertisements have surged online, with more than 90,000 roles up for grabs across the country. According to recruitment website Seek, the most in-demand positions are baristas (20,168 jobs), waitstaff (14,380), bartenders (13,478), chefs (10,730) and kitchen hands (10,490). Regional eateries have also taken to Facebook to call for workers, with one brewhouse writing: “Experience is not as crucial as a passion for quality beer”.Tourism North East on Friday launched a new online jobs platform, High Country Jobs, to try and lure workers from Melbourne to the region ahead of the summer.New data from Regional Australia Institute shows that job opportunities in North East Victoria were up by 46.8 per cent compared to this time last year – 9,452 vacancies in the September 2021 quarter compared to 5,025 in the same quarter in 2020.Coming out of lockdown and reopening the Belgian Beer Cafe was meant to be a huge relief for Susan Burke.It’s been anything but, with Ms Burke and her husband forced to work up to 80 hours a week just to keep the Southbank venue open.“It’s a pretty dire time,” Ms Burke said.“While some people were jumping for joy at the announcement of more people allowed in the venues, I was shuttering. Getting back to the normal is a scary thing for us because we will just not be able to do it.”Australian Industry Group Victoria head Tim Piper said the problem was also impacting other sectors.“It’s a much bigger story than just hospitality. The sooner we act to encourage migration to Victoria and have overseas students returning, the better it will be for the economy and our hospitality and manufacturing sectors,” Mr Piper said.Matt Mullins, who co-owns Sand Hill Road which operates some of Melbourne’s most iconic venues including The Espy, Garden State Hotel, Terminus Hotel and the Richmond Club Hotel, said prospective employees should jump at the opportunity, flagging career progression would be fast-tracked in many instances.“It’s not like there are millions of people out there who are looking for work, but every pub, bar and cafe in Victoria is desperately trying to hire, so we’re competing in such a small pool,” he said.“We’ve been closed for nearly two years to keep everyone safe, but now we’re back and we’re hungrier than ever to get on with it.”
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