By Parker McKenzie
Restaurant and cafes are facing an uncertain future as severe staff shortages could potentially lead to venues closing their doors.
Owner of The Independent Mauro Callegari said the ability to recruit staff at the moment is “terrible.”
“It’s worse than ever,” he said.
“We pay well, they get good tips and we are open four nights a week.”
The Argentinian restaurant in Gembrook employed 33 people before the Covid-19 pandemic, and Mr Callegari now has 13 staff.
Some of his former employees returned to their homes overseas, others took jobs with supermarkets for more regular work throughout lockdowns and several didn’t return because they disagreed with vaccinations.
Oakridge Winery manager Simone Berner has also been unable to recruit new staff.
“It’s extremely bad. There are no people around,” she said.
“I think Covid was the big issue. A lot of people either changed careers, had babies or don’t want to come back to hospitality because it’s been so uncertain with lockdowns.”
For the winery, the inability to find new staff could mean closing the restaurant to patrons.
“I’ve just had three people quit at Oakridge,” Ms Berner said.
“So right now, we are uncertain whether the restaurant is going to be able to continue unless we find more stuff quickly.”
Mr Callegari said most of his staff travel from outside Gembrook to work in the restaurant and competing with other venues looking for staff has made recruiting waitstaff difficult.
“The demographic makes it difficult, it’s where we are based,” Mr Callegari said.
“One thing we are waiting for is international workers to return.”
Mr Callegari said the Independent had sponsored a foreign chef a year and half ago to work in the restaurant but he hasn’t been able to enter the country.
“We are restricted and limited in the way the business operates at the moment,” he said.
“We can’t do this forever.”
