Melbourne events and hospitality groups are scrambling to fill thousands of job vacancies ahead of the city’s major events season as it returns fully for the first time in three years.
The Victoria Racing Club has more than 1000 job vacancies in hospitality alone for its $434 million spring racing carnival, according to one industry source. The VRC’s racing carnival, including the Melbourne Cup, forms the centrepiece of the events season which includes AFL finals, Christmas, new year, the Australian Open and the Formula 1 grand prix.
The VRC would not confirm the number of job vacancies during its staff recruitment phase. “We have been working for some time with our supply partners on their recruitment plans and are receiving weekly updates on staffing to ensure a smooth Melbourne Cup carnival,” said VRC chief executive Steve Rosich.
The last full crowd at the Melbourne Cup carnival was in 2019, when 25,000 staff and contractors worked across 880 companies and brought in $434 million in economic benefit to the state, according to the VRC. This year, it is expecting 300,000 attendees and a boost of 29,000 members making it the largest racing club in the world.
Last week, the VRC kicked off the events season with a splashy black tie party at Flemington’s Hill Stand to celebrate 60 years of Myer Fashions on the Field. On Thursday night, 550 guests including VRC members, Myer executives, Melbourne Fashion Festival chief executive Caroline Ralphsmith, and personalities including milliner Melissa Jackson, and Rebel Wilson’s personal trainer, Jono Castano, supped on a three-course meal supplied by VRC’s new caterer Crown Resorts and ended the evening by dancing to Dami Im.
Punters at the Melbourne Cup in 2019.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Ahead of the AFL finals season, hospitality company Delaware North, which runs food and beverage services at the MCG, spent an extra $1 million attempting to lure several thousand casual workers.
“This year, we have offered $1 million of incentives into the market in the form of sign-on, first-shift, retention and referral bonuses in an effort to attract and upskill a greater pool of talent into the hospitality sector,” said Delaware North managing director Gary Brown.
Delaware has moved several hundred staff into the MCG for the finals series from other sites including Marvel Stadium and Melbourne Park. “Pleasingly, we are adequately staffed at the MCG and do not anticipate any staffing shortage there for the duration of the AFL finals,” Brown said. Service levels were improving with extra training, he added.
The Signature Hospitality Group, which owns 19 The Sporting Globe Bar & Grills and 19 TGI Fridays, has just had a record revenue week for Father’s Day and the AFL finals, amid increased prices. But the business, which employs 1600 staff, has 250 vacancies.
“We knew this was inevitable if we didn’t retain the skilled visa-holders the government excluded during lockdown,” said chief executive James Sinclair. “We have 25 skilled visa-holders overseas awaiting government department sign-off. One has been waiting for six months.”
James Sinclair, chief executive of the Signature Hospitality Group.Credit:Eddie Jim
Now the hospitality group is investing $1 million in additional training for junior staff. It has changed its $10,000 sign-on bonus to a six-month skills and retention bonus in an attempt to stop rival venues poaching staff.
In April 2020, the Morrison government declined to provide financial support to international students and other visitor visa-holders during the COVID-19 lockdowns and urged them to leave the country.
The Australian Hotels Association said the lack of visa availability for foreign workers was a major problem. “Time taken to process 482 visa applications [for] international workers is still a significant challenge, currently ranging from seven to 15 months,” said Dougal Hollis, Tourism Accommodation Australia’s Victorian branch general manager.
He welcomed the federal government’s announcement at the Jobs and Skills Summit to recruit 500 extra staff to process visa backlogs.
“The visa-holders are not coming back. It is going to take another six months to fix,” said Bruce Keebaugh, founder of marquee event caterers The Big Group. “Our season starts in August and ends in April. Restaurateurs are still not opening to capacity.
“Previously 2018/2019 was our best year on record. We will exceed that for 2022/23 which is great after all the shit we have been through. Victoria needs to get up and rebuild the confidence in the events industry and make it stand for something globally. ”
Technology is coming to the rescue in the unlikely form of a robot drink dispenser, which was trialled at The George on Collins a week ago.
The Perth device, FrothStop, is a locally made version of devices in use overseas. It can pour up to 450 drinks an hour and dispense everything from craft beer to spirits and even pre-mixed cocktails.
The FrothStop, a robotic drinks dispenser.
“A concern at the moment is that our staff are overworked and stressed and one thing we want is … a good environment for our staff and this machine can help that,” said Will Borland, manager of The George on Collins.
However, staff shortages are continuing to plague the late-night venue. “We definitely have a huge range of staff shortages – it is coming in waves.”
Will Borland, general manager of The George on Collins.Credit:Chris Hopkins
An added difficulty has been venues competing for good staff. “It is a tug of war game at the moment. We are constantly hiring and hiring and hiring.”
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