Jarks owner Marianne Poszeluk said they've always retained staff really well but it's the worst year they've had for getting new workers. Photo / Paul Taylor
Jarks owner Marianne Poszeluk said they've always retained staff really well but it's the worst year they've had for getting new workers. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay's hospitality scene is spiralling as the region's cafes, bars and restaurants struggle to find trained staff because teens are choosing trades as a career instead.
Jarks Cityside Restaurant and Bar owner Marianne Poszeluk said it had been near impossible to find new staff in the past 12 months,and fears her current employees may suffer burnout.
"We've worked some days with only three front-of-house staff when we should have seven," she said.
"The ones that already work really hard for you are working twice as hard, and that burns them out which is my biggest concern."
Poszeluk said they've had nine employees leave this year to go and study.
Opera Kitchen owner Jennifer Le Comte said they are incredibly tight for staff at the moment too, but are getting by.
Opera Kitchen owner Jennifer Le Comte said the staff shortage is limiting business. Photo / Paul Taylor
"There's just no one nationwide applying for jobs. It's really limiting our business, there are lots of places just shutting their hours," she said.
Both business owners say they usually can rely on the likes of Eastern Institute of Technology hospitality students, those who have recently finished school and people from Work and Income to fill their rosters, but there didn't seem to be enough people wanting to work in the industry.
Poszeluk said everybody in Hawke's Bay is in the same boat.
EIT head of tourism and hospitality Glenn Fulcher said the institute had noticed a considerable decline in students going through hospitality courses.
"Looking at data, over the last three years we've had a 15 to 20 per cent decline in numbers of domestic students," he said.
Class sizes that used to be the size of 40 are now sitting at around 20, and Fulcher said they've also lost out on having international students.
"You can purely equate that to the going of elsewhere because EIT as a whole has strong numbers - they're going into trades or primary industries."
Jarks owner Marianne Poszeluk said they had nine employees leave to go and study this year, but are always happy when they come back in the holidays. Photo / Paul Taylor
Fulcher said barista training is still in adequate demand, but the numbers of those enrolling for full-time hospitality courses of between six and 12 months has dropped off.
The EIT head of hospitality said he believes this has been caused partly by the fact that students have so much choice for work, and there is also a smaller school student population.
"To be fair they are probably comparing what's being paid in the industry and what amount of hours or days of the week they have to work, and poor old hospitality misses out because you have to work weekends and nights," he said.
Other factors impacting on the staffing shortage include having fewer people around on working and holiday visas due to NZ's borders being closed to most – but also the perception the hospitality sector was and still is the worst-hit by the pandemic, according to Fulcher.
However, Jarks owner Poszeluk said business has remained steady.
"On one hand we're all praying for a busy day every day, you want to be busy," she said.
"But then, on the other hand, you're almost nervous with how you'll cope - who's going to be here and have we got enough people. That is the hardest for us and everyone in the industry right now."
The Jarks and Opera Kitchen owners said they've both also increased their wages in an attempt to get more staff.
"I'm putting all my wages up quite a bit because I feel wages in this industry need to go up, but I'm also putting my prices up," Le Comte said.
But, she said even then there is "literally no one applying for jobs" and she even has her vacancies up with recruitment agencies.
"I've had a great career in hospitality, I don't see why other people can't too," Le Comte added.
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said a lack of hospitality workers is a real problem for Hawke's Bay.
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst (right) with Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Inc's Sally Duncan back in August, 2020. Photo / NZME
"We need to work as a community to manage this problem as we are a region that's a food and wine destination," she said.
Hastings District Council is currently working alongside EIT to produce a 12-week course to ensure there are more people with the right skills to work in the region's restaurants, vineyards and bars.
"HDC will do its bit with an industry night called 'Serve the Bay' to encourage locals to participate in the course," Mayor Hazlehurst added.
