Dunedin’s Ironic Cafe and Bar was among restaurants and cafes to turn lights off for two minutes yesterday to raise awareness about the skills shortage the sector faces.
The cafe has been owned by Steve Wilson and Sue Moller for 15 years and the pair have never seen a staff shortage like it.
Mr Wilson described it as "unprecedented" and "unsustainable".
The business needed eight chefs to fill its shortage.
Before Covid-19, the shortage was bad but afterwards "it went and got a whole lot worse", Mr Wilson said.
"It has reached crisis point and it is that simple," he said.
The vacancies at the business had forced Mr Wilson, who was 60 years old, back into the kitchen as head chef, as well as running the business.
"We should be spending more time focusing on the business, not in the business.
"We also want to have a life, we have grandchildren we want to spend time with but we can’t," Ms Moller said.
The business turned its lights off at 7pm as part of the "Lights Out" campaign.
"It is to show that we are all in this together and make sure the Government will actually listen to us," Ms Moller said.
Mr Wilson said there was pressure on staff who were also having to do more.
"Sue and I are very lucky. We have a good core but to enable us to carry on and keep everyone mentally in a safe place, we need more staff," he said.
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The problem lies with the New Zealand hospitality industry paying low wages for long hours and poor prospects A check on what is being offered will show head chefs (with 10+ years experience) earning little more than the minimum wage. High wages can only be achieved through working long hours. The reason why most hospitality workers are from overseas is because they are willing accept subsistence living for a short time because they know they will be going home. COVID put a stop to this
This seems to be a world wide phenomena. I have been reading articles saying exactly the same thing about the hospitality industry in UK, Europe, and USA.
It seems strange to me, NZ is well served across the entire country with a wide range of training providers in this industry. It seems that the courses provided are well subscribed so we must be turning out plenty of people trained for the work.
This article is silent on what Mr Wilson has done to try and overcome the dilemma, no mention of advertising campaigns, no mention of discussions with training providers in the region, no mention of looking at the wage rates being offered.
I do note that it has been reported that some employers in the USA who had this problem of being unable to attract job applicants found that they were inundated with more applications than they could manage when they doubled the pay they were offering. I wonder if that might work here?
It's a truth that most people in hospo are probably good and treat their staff as well as they can. But hospo has a reputation for terrible working conditions - long hours and minimal pay. Casual contracts are the norm (flexible and cheap for both parties) and are rife because lots of people looking for work suits businesses.
The material coming out of the hospitality business lobby group has the same script used by Horticulture - The "talk" is about about "special skills" that only migrant labour can provide (NZers are too lazy, unskilled, with pesky demands about working conditions, etc), but the "walk" is really about how cheap they are to employ. It's obvious that business lobby groups in NZ are using politics to deflect a critical look at their own practice - like a naughty child that discovers crying gets sympathy first.
They may also be concerned at a trend in America, where staff in hospo have given up battling degrading working conditions and are leaving in droves - usually to find much better jobs. Isn't that how the market is supposed to work?
I agree entirely. Well said.
Any time the government wants to get involved, be it health and safety legislation, competition laws, consumer protections, the business lobby says, "No, let the market decide!"
Now that the labour market is deciding that an industry needs to up it's game in terms of pay and conditions, they want government intervention. I say "No, let the market decide!"
Good employers in the industry will find a way and eventually, with the right attitude, New Zealand will no longer be a low wage economy. Assuming the government doesn't intervene that is....
The trend in America for hospitality staff leaving is due to their significantly lower minimum wage. In some states not only is this wage low ($5 or so) but the actual wage can be even lower to be made up by tips.
New Zealand has a significantly higher minimum wage so hospitality industry workers aren't destitute if they only earn the minimum wage for 40 hours a week.
"It is to show that we are all in this together and make sure the Government will actually listen to us," Ms Moller said" I doubt they will, but if they do then it's likely they will just tinker around the edges (as they always do) and call it fixed......
"Skills shortage crisis, cafe owner says"
or perhaps:
"Pay & conditions crisis, cafe workers say"
Surely, these people running businesses know how supply and demand works?
Only when it suits them, Firm believers in capitalism when the going is good but keen to socialise the losses (get the Govt to pay) when the going gets tough.
Yes there is a shortage of workers, but this is part of the beginning of systematic change away from cheap labor. Supply and Demand principles apply here. If you're asking for a skilled person to do 50+ hour weeks your going to have to pay them more than 60k p.a.
And don't give me this "too lazy to do certain jobs" to a certain point this translates to 'The remuneration isn't high enough for this job to be worth doing'
Yes there are some areas which are remote with seasonal work, the RSE Scheme can cover this.
Are we going to have start paying $45 for mains? So be it, everyone deserves the opportunity to earn a good living wage, maybe they'll use some of it buy that $45 main?
The gentleman on The Project last night made it very clear he has jobs that "Kiwis just don't want to do". This suggest to me it's a lot less about low wages and lot more about a welfare system that encourages people to be able to chose to not want to do the jobs available. How about tackling both, lower the benefit and use that money to increase pay for doing these jobs that some don't want.
This arcane practice is known as labour exploitation and is commonly used in undeveloped societies. Those in power can force the poor or weak into forced labour and to do what they are told if they want to feed themselves or their families. Fortunately New Zealand society does not share this myopic mentality.
Lower the benefit he cries, what he refuses to get however is some of those persons on the benefit are not there by choice but by illness, are you quite happy to force them into work and make their conditions worse than they already are?, be thankful you are in good health and have a good job and are able to afford all the luxuries of life as being forced to live on a pittance like those on a benefit do is no fun.
Unless the public are prepared to pay significantly more for the meal, and I'm talking $70-$80 for a main, then hospitality will remain low wage. The other factor, there are so many increased costs for everyone in the past year or so, from rent increases to insurances and food increases. Low wage jobs with long hours just aren't viable for many people. and they too wish to spend time with their partners and family. The problem is global, as another has already stated. The flip side, if the meal increases in cost, there will be fewer diners. Then it will become a treat for the elite. maybe that would be the better option? Less customers, higher charges, less stress?
Well yes, that is one option. Another is that cafe and restaurant owners lower their margins and take less for themselves. Generally speaking a $40 main today can be put on the table at cost for about $10, that's including the cost of the food, the cost of overheads including labour and taxes. So the remaining $30 is pure profit. Perhaps the owners should look at reducing their profit a little and increasing wages of their workers. Just an idea.
I actually consider these as pretty low-skill jobs, and as a result have been low-wage. On top of that the working conditions are not exactly great, lots of stress and exploitation, which is why many people stay away from taking these jobs. Mr. Wilson could consider paying better and offering better working conditions for these jobs. This may mean you have to charge your clients more. Ultimately it is the responsibility of both the business owners and the customers to act in a way to ensure the most vulnerable employees are not being exploited. This has been happening for far too long in the form of exploiting migrant labour, which has now dried up.