A persistent staff shortage is continuing to hamper hospitality venues as they seek to emerge into an open-border economy, but the owners of Launceston's newest restaurant are refusing to lay the blame entirely at the pandemic's feet.
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The National Skills Commission's latest job vacancy report revealed that advertisements calling for hospitality workers across Australia had jumped by 930 jobs in December, the largest jump of any industry sector.
Likewise, a cursory search through the hospitality and tourism category on Seek.com reveals that there are more than 200 positions currently vacant around the state, with the vast majority of those calling for chefs, front-of-house managers and waitstaff.
Much of the rise in demand for hospitality workers in recent years has been attributed to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. A lack of backpackers and visa workers entering Australia as well as fears over the close contact nature of front-of-house positions have been noted by employers around the nation as causes for low staff numbers.
That said, the industry's current predicament may stretch back before the onset of the pandemic. In 2017, when The Fair Work Commission decided to reduce penalty rates for Sundays and holidays in retail and hospitality jobs, an Australian Institute report noted that this was likely to exacerbate already stagnating wage growth in both sectors.
"Wages in retail and hospitality already lag far behind economy-wide averages, and part-time and casual jobs are the norm," the report stated at the time.
While sheer demand for jobs have recently led to reports of employers paying premium wages to stay open as the Omicron wave played havoc with staffing levels, some see the need for a more sustained change in an industry widely-known to overwork and underpay their staff.
One of the restaurants hoping to reinvent the industry from the ground up is Launceston's Dare Darlin, which opened its doors late last year in the newly renovated Tamar Yacht Club.
The restaurant marks the first for owners Courtney Hill and James Murray, who have amassed a cumulative 26 years working as chefs in some of the state's most celebrated establishments. The duo made no qualms about the need for change in the industry.
"We were supporting an industry that was killing our young people," Ms Hill said.
Beyond the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Murray believes that the lack of staff returning to venues across the country is actually attributable to their refusal to return to subpar working conditions.
"Gone are the days when you could slog people out on 70-hour work weeks. They're not going to do it anymore," Mr Murray said.
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And it appears the pair is putting their money where their mouths are, with staff at the restaurant enjoying job perks hitherto unheard of in the vast majority of restaurants. A four-day work week, nine-and-a-half-hour shifts and weekly cash bonuses are just some of the perks the pair are offering to entice hospitality workers back to the industry.
Looking past the simple financial incentives, however, Ms Hill said she was also eager to build a working culture that looked very different from some of the environments she'd encountered in her time as a chef.
"Our mission is to not relay our stress onto our staff. The industry can have this constant grind and staff shouldn't be feeling that pressure. They're paid to come and do their job, use their skills and then go home to their families," she said.
And it appears to be working, when asked how Dare Darlin was navigating the chronic nationwide hospitality staff shortage, Ms Hill's answer was surprising if simple.
"This might ruffle a few feathers, but we've got a line out the door," she said.
"Why? It's because they know they are going to get Valentine's Day off if they need it, or their birthday. They're not going to miss those little moments," she added.
And while the restaurant's line of prospective staff is growing, so is the line for patrons - despite the venue launching just weeks before the December border reopening and the accompanying influx of Omicron into the state.
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If the venue can continue to prove itself successful, it could mark an important change for an industry that's consistently failed to retain and attract staff in recent years. If that proves the case, Mr Murray believes Dare Darlin's impact could stretch way beyond the staff that work there.
"No one has done what we're doing. I want to see people who own businesses and restaurants look at us and then look inside their own businesses and say, 'It is time to change'," he said.
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Joshua Peach
Got a story tip? Email me on joshua.peach@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Got a story tip? Email me on joshua.peach@austcommunitymedia.com.au
