HSA June 21

SKILLS
CRISIS
36 Ideas to
Help Find Staff
Staff shortages are a major problem for many hotels in
both the metro and regional areas of South Australia.
For many owners and managers, it’s their number one
problem. There are many accounts of venues receiving
little or no interest in job ads, while those that do apply
lack the required skills.
COVID-19 has delivered a triple-whammy:
1. During lockdowns, staff that were stood down
found work in other sectors and have not returned
to hospitality. Many have moved into the booming
mining sector.
2. The closure of Australia’s borders virtually closed
the pipeline of staff who are overseas students or
on working holiday visas.
3. A strong rebound after lockdown has led, in some
areas, to record consumer demand that requires
more staff than ever before. For example, a backlog
of weddings and delayed birthday celebrations
added to the pent-up demand of people that had
been confined to home for an extended period.
Better-than-expected economic figures has seen a
fall in unemployment figures for South Australia.
This strength in jobs is the case nationwide, so it is
no surprise to find that staff shortages in hospitality
is an Australia-wide problem.
In fact, staff shortages in hospitality is a global problem.
As one person put it: “Everybody in the world is hiring
at the same time.” Competition for staff is fierce and
not confined to hotels and hospitality. Other sectors,
such as construction, are reporting a similar problem,
where it has been claimed that “for every five skilled
trade workers who leave the industry, only one new hire
replaces them.”
STAFFING HEADACHE
Staff shortages creates many problems for hotels,
including:
1. Paying overtime hurts margins. So does increasing
incentives to attract new staff. (In the UK, restaurant
group Hawksmoor is promoting bonuses scaling up
to £2,000 to their who recommend friends for jobs.)
2. Increased demand on reduced staff numbers
means you run the risk of burn out for existing staff
3. Customer service can suffer, leading to reputation
damage.
4. Hours are being wasted on job search activities,
often with limited return. The ABC quoted one
owner as saying: “"I used to have a lot of people
just walk in looking for a job … at the moment I
have to say, I have zero resumes.”
5. There are reports of hotels and restaurants
imposing caps on numbers because they can’t
get the staff, or closing on certain days.
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