Lewis Group has announced it is offering a signing bonus of $2,500 for chefs as the industry feels the pinch of the labour shortage crisis.
A Federal Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration was told this week of staff shortages forcing some hoteliers to “beg, borrow or steal” chefs and cooks, while many Sydney CBD accommodation hotels had to stop selling rooms over Easter.
Lewis has put out the offer of a sign-on bonus for new recruits upon completion of three months employment at its large-format pubs, Fiddler in Rouse Hill and the Camden Valley Inn.
The group reports a marked Increase in local dining as people stay close to home, with limited travel, and the pubs’ big kitchens are “non-stop busy” doing a combined average weekly total of 15,000 covers.
The advent of the Dine & Discover Vouchers has seen the hotels redeem around 5,500 from patrons in the past fortnight alone, which has put additional demands on the kitchens.
During the pandemic, many chefs and hospitality staff in Australia on 457 working visas were forced to return home, as they didn’t qualify for JobKeeper.
Lewis finds itself needing 12-15 full-time chefs, and is making the employment offer to qualified chefs, cooks, and adult apprentices.
Positions are paying base wages and salaries above industry levels, and the further chef sign-on bonus is an attempt to cut into the labour market and attract new applicants. Existing staff can also receive a $500 referral fee for someone that gets employed.
The bonus scheme will run until the end of the financial year or until the quotas are met.
“We have a lot of long-term chefs employed in our business, who have been a critical part of our success,” says group operations manager Brad Jenkins. “But the recent explosion in customer visitations sees us needing to increase our kitchen brigade sizes permanently.
“It’s been very difficult finding chefs in the current environment, with the previous pool of 457 visa chefs depleted significantly since COVID.”
Jenkins suggests staff engaged with the group find a fast-paced, well-balanced business in which to grow. In keeping with that, Lewis is also paying all existing chefs at the pubs the same one-time bonus ($2,500) over the coming three months.
“They have earned it,” says Jenkins.
Applications for the Lewis Land Group chef positions HERE.
The national hotels association reports the lack of skilled positions such as chefs, cooks and front-line staff is causing havoc, with hotel groups more than 50 per cent down on job applications – even as the unemployment rate sits at more than five per cent.
“This was a problem before COVID and it is even worse now due to the lack of international students, working holiday makers and temporary visa holders,” says Australian Hotels Association CEO Stephen Ferguson.
“In regional areas, where the tourism trade is actually picking up, we have hoteliers wanting to beg borrow or steal chefs and cooks to meet demand. The situation really is that acute.”
The AHA stresses action needs to be taken to increase the number of overseas workers. First priority is always to hire Australian workers, “but the reality is the local workers wanting to do jobs like chefs and front-line staff simply aren’t there in many areas” Ferguson says.
The Association highlights that bringing in overseas workers is not something entered into lightly, costing the business in the region of $10-25k but done because there was “no other option”.
A recent survey by the AHA found 73 per cent of respondents reported their business was suffering due to a shortage of skilled workers. Over two thirds needed chefs.
The AHA and TAA are calling on government for:
- Cooks and chefs to be added to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List
- Hospitality (including accommodation) to be listed as a critical sector for the purposes of the subclass 408 Temporary Activity Visa
- Pathways to allow permanency for temporary skilled workers currently in Australia
- International students working in hospitality to be permitted to work more than 40hrs per fortnight
- WHM VISA holders working in tourism to be able to work for the same employer for more than six months in rural and remote areas of Australia
