Hospitality venues across Australia are scouting for workers overseas amid a local staff shortage, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports.
Staff shortages across the hospitality space have been a persistent issue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of temporary visa holders, many from the hospitality industry, left Australia and have not yet returned.
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Sydney restaurateur, Bill Drakopoulos, confirmed this “desperate shortage of staff” in an interview with The Age and The SMH.
“I could probably do with another 70 staff,” Mr Drakopoulos, who owns Sydney venues such as Ripples, The Fenwick and Ormeggio, told the newspapers. “It’s still pretty tough.”
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Mr Drakopoulos said he’s started scouting overseas for front-of-house and back-of-house staff in response.
It’s been a slow process so far and he’s been forced to limit the number of bookings at some restaurants to ensure they had sufficient staff to serve customers.
But he remains “optimistic it’ll come good.”
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.
