Harbourside Restaurant owner Peter Ward. Photo / Carmen Hall
A "diabolical" labour shortage has forced some restaurants to drastically reduce their opening hours while a new survey reveals 86 per cent of businesses in the sector are not fully staffed.
Owners and managers NZME spoke to say the situation is "chronic". All had jobs available and one had continuously run advertisements on Student Job Search for three years with little to no response.
Trade Me figures show in Tauranga job listings in the hospitality and tourism sector had jumped by 25 per cent year-on-year in the July to September quarter.
Harbourside Restaurant owner Peter Ward has been in the industry for decades and said the struggle to get staff was "chronic" and the worst he had ever seen it.
"It's impossible and has a knock-on effect which is very stressful and puts a lot of pressure on our team. We are plugging gaps and that is pretty much my role at the moment."
Ward had four to five vacancies in his kitchen and two front-of-house vacancies. Opening hours for the business had dropped from seven days to five because he couldn't get staff.
"At the moment I can't think of any restaurant in Tauranga that is open seven days."
He had job campaigns going including an advertisement that had been on the Student Job Search for three years.
"I've got school kids doing dishes for $21.20 as a minimum or more. You can't get them on the youth schemes unless they are doing training towards fulltime employment. We don't hire anyone under 15 and they are on the minimum wage and some are on more than that because they have been with us for a while."
With the festive and summer holiday season around the corner, Ward said, "I'm scared to think about it."
Mount Maunganui Returned and Services Association president Arthur King said the hospitality staff shortage was "diabolical".
"There are just so many jobs out there - people pick and choose and it's a matter of time to find the right person for the right job."
King said it had been advertising for a kitchen hand and sous chef for about three months.
"We've had several [applicants] from overseas which obviously are no good to us because they want to come to New Zealand and we want them now - we don't want to wait for them to come from overseas."
It had a couple of people apply locally "but unfortunately our position doesn't suit them".
"We have staff in the positions but they're under pressure - we had obviously the AIMS Games so we had members of the executive helping in there and working away. We cope with it all right but it's not what we should be doing - we should have the staff doing that.
"It's a bit of a struggle but we'll get there."
Master Kong manager Manisha Gurung said it was currently looking for two bar staff, three wait staff and kitchen staff.
"It is really hard ... the staff have to do more hours, they have to do long shifts."
While it had been getting applicants and interviewing people, many were too young, such as 17 or 18, and it was ideally looking for older people in their mid-20s.
"So that the people can do the job very smoothly," she said.
The Freeport Bayfair manager Yorick Nicholls said the owners were seeking two roles in the kitchen. He also put a job advert out for an assistant venue manager just over one week ago.
"And not quite striking gold on most fronts."
Nicholls said no applicants had applied since the advert went up which was "disappointing".
"I suppose it's down to the shortage of people with the certain experience that is required but also down to decision making as well.
"I'm frequently reminded that Tauranga has, in comparison to Auckland where I came from, far fewer resources when it comes to candidates and when it comes to experienced hands, well I'm starting to get a bit of a taste of that as well."
Nicholls hoped that once it started advertising on paid platforms, applicants might start to "filter through".
"I think it's just the absence of willing candidates ... just plain and simply just not enough bites for them to filter through some quality interviews."
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said anecdotally he was hearing about 14 to 16-year-olds earning $20 an hour serving and clearing plates at restaurants.
The rising wages were largely due to the short supply of suitable candidates.
In a recent column for the Bay of Plenty Times, Cowley said he knew of plenty of hospitality business owners who were doing dishes and helping front-of-house staff.
"They are protecting the welfare of their limited staff who are also under pressure. But right now it's a buyer's market, and staff are making the most of employers' desperate circumstances.
"Frankly, you can't blame them for negotiating the best possible terms of employment."
Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said a recent survey of the Bay of Plenty indicated 86 per cent of businesses were not fully staffed.
In the past two months, 74 per cent had recruited for a mid-senior position and of those, 90 per cent found it difficult, or extremely difficult to recruit.
Of those on average, they received five or fewer applications for roles advertised.
Many operated at reduced capacity and, in other cases, worked more hours themselves.
"Others are trying to attract and retain staff by offering additional benefits such as increased salaries, accommodation, bonuses and other incentives where possible."
Bidois was concerned about the upcoming busy season.
"This is the time when we have the opportunity to make up for a few years of subdued trading, and it is critical that our businesses are able to access the help they need to operate. We see the skills shortage spilling over into 2023 – and we will need an immigration policy that supports our businesses in accessing the help they need.
"We are working on a number of initiatives to support and highlight the hospitality industry as a viable career option, but as with most other sectors in the country right now, we are experiencing a severe skills shortage."
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said some businesses in the region, such as tour and transportation services, were "significantly impacted" by the loss of international visitors.
"They're now under pressure to rebuild their teams, fleets and services while the job market for transport drivers is particularly tight," he said.
"We're also well aware of the pressures that the hospitality and retail sectors are under to attract and retain staff, and we hope that the revision of the working visa rules will help with this soon."
Nonetheless, Nathan said it was "a very exciting time" as several new operators and products were entering the local tourism market as it prepared to welcome more international visitors. This included several Māori operators offering small group tours to allow visitors to engage with indigenous stories and culture.
Minister of Immigration Michael Wood said it had seen strong demand for the Working Holiday Scheme, with more than 30,437 working holiday scheme applications approved since March, with arrivals picking up in the coming months.
Wood said it was supporting the tourism and hospitality industry by providing median wage exemptions for specified tourism and hospitality roles through sector agreements.
It was also temporarily doubling numbers under the Working Holiday Scheme and extending visas to retain labour already in the country.
Since the start of July there had been more than 11,000 visa applications from migrants, he said.
Armed police stood guard as the patched members were led out in handcuffs.