Shortage puts Port Fairy's hospitality staff on knife's edge

Seven cafes, bakeries and restaurants including The Star of the West Hotel, Village Bakehouse, Bottega Toscana, Ministry of Ombibulous Studies, Conlan's Wine Store and Cobb's Bakery are displaying 'staff wanted' signs on the same, short stretch of road.

Owner of Cobb's Bakery Jason Bartlett said the staff shortage was widespread in the area and he'd been trying to fill a position since December.

"The junior position vacancy we have up at the minute has been there since December," he said.

"We've also been looking for an apprentice baker which we've advertised for in different places since the start of February and we've only had one applicant for it so far.

"Usually come October or November, I'd have a pile 20 or 30 centimetres high of university students' resumes from those that just want seasonal work over the holidays and people who are about to finish year 12. But I've not had one single resume the last year."

Mr Bartlett believes the shortage began after a series of lockdowns prompted locals to pursue careers in different industries where they had more stability and easier access to JobKeeper.

"I think a lot of people lost their jobs when coronavirus hit, so they all went onto different industries," he said.

"I also know a lot of hospitality workers weren't valid for the JobKeeper payments because in hospitality it's hard for you to be employed for 12 months because people change around places all the time so they just left.

"I know a few friends of mine in Warrnambool who were in hospitality went on to jobs in nursing, for example."

The Village Bakehouse's John Stapleton, who had to restructure his workplace due to a lack of staff, believes the problem lies in a combination of those relying on JobKeeper and the area's demographics.

"Ninety per cent of the housing in Port Fairy is short term rental so it doesn't really accommodate for the locals to work here so we need to get people from Warrnambool to come here instead," he said.

"Restaurants and night jobs are really struggling to find good staff because the pool of people in Port Fairy is very small and coronavirus just made it worse.

"But the problem with hiring people from Warrnambool is that yeah, it's great, but it's hard to find someone there willing to work a night shift where they'd be driving all the way home at midnight.

"With JobKeeper, people were quite happy to stay home on the money and not work especially in hospitality - anybody that wants a job in hospitality can get one anywhere at the moment.

"There should be zero unemployment. It's just the fact that people don't want to work for their money and would rather stay at home and get it for free."

Moyne Shire mayor Daniel Meade said the council was aware of the problem and had already implemented a plan to address staff shortages and is in consultation with local businesses across the hospitality sector.

"Moyne Shire Council has taken action to address staffing shortages, with the implementation of an economic migration project, aimed at attracting new residents to the shire and reducing employee shortages, included in the 2021/22 budget," Cr Meade said.

"Council continues to provide mentoring and business support to local business owners and recently extended its business adaptation service to assist another 50 businesses in their recovery from the pandemic and business development.

"We continue to engage directly with local business owners to better understand their needs, and council is currently advertising for two new temporary roles to continue to engage and assist local businesses across events, tourism and hospitality sectors.

"After the success of last year's campaign, council's 'Love Local' initiative will also continue in 2021, to encourage the community to spend locally and help further support local businesses."

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