Border hospitality businesses tell of the struggle to get staff

The difficulty in recruiting and under-staffing is placing significant pressure on business owners and their current employees.

The Brekkie Box in Wodonga is one of many businesses feeling the pinch.

Owner Dylan Connell has owned the café for two years.

The former tradie and dad of two hadn't worked in hospitality before opening the doors just as the pandemic hit, and said he had not known what to expect.

"I started this business right at the start of the pandemic," he said.

"We have survived the border closures, the loss of customers, lockdowns and now the shortage of staff.

"There's a lot of pressure and stress on the staff I have left and myself. This industry doesn't suit everyone, it is a fast-paced and demanding role."

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When he started his business, he would get 80 to 100 applications for a job.

These days, he is lucky to get eight.

"It's frustrating when every other café is looking for staff too, and it feels like you have to do something extreme to stand out," he said.

Mr Connell is now looking at going through an employment agency to find a trainee who wants a career and "not just a job." The shortages have put pressure on existing staff and owners having to work long hours.

"We don't have a list of requirements, just someone who wants to have a go and a smile," he said.

Across the border, Melissa Pollard, who owns The Elms Cafe in Kiewa Street, Albury, has been posting job advertisements online for months, only to have little to no response. And even when she gets staff, some have then failed to show up to shifts.

"I'm at capacity with what I can handle myself; it's been a difficult time in the industry, I have done everything I can, and now I'm feeling like what's the point, I'm frustrated," she said.

"I'm giving training and flexibility, and when someone I hire doesn't show up, I have to do it myself.

"I'm a single mother of two children and own a house. If I have no staff, I have to limit the menu, I have to close early and even shut for days at a time. No staff means no turnover.

"A year or so ago we had staff begging to keep their jobs, and it was heartbreaking letting them go, and now we have so many jobs going, and no one wants to work. What is going on."

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