Americans lured to Aussie hospitality jobs
American hospitality workers are being lured Down Under through a new initiative which aims to support Australian businesses facing massive workforce shortages.
Melbourne recruitment company Work Intern Travel and US-based cultural exchange organisation Alliance Abroad Group have been working together since December to provide Australian hospitality and tourism industry employers access to international temporary and seasonal workers amid a dire staff shortage.
WIT director of operations Ash Jurberg said the largest number of worker enquiries were from the US.
“We are getting a lot of applicants out of Las Vegas in particular who are attracted by the good wages and opportunities that Australia offers. In turn, Australian employers are keen to employ Americans because they have a great service culture,” he said. “The quality of workers being attracted to Australia is high. We see people with great experience who are happy to take an entry level job such as housekeeping just to get international experience.”
AAG last year launched Work Experience Australia, which recruits and matches qualified hospitality candidates from around world to appropriate employers across Australia, guaranteeing paid positions prior to arrival.
WIT serves as the local representative and directly responds to the unique requirements of each employer.
Mr Jurberg said hotels and casinos from every state had signed up to be a part of the initiative. “The number of Australian businesses signing up with us to find desperately needed staff is constantly growing,” he said.
“Originally we expected we would only recruit for seasonal areas with working holiday makers. But the feedback across the industry is due to the shortage of workers, even non-seasonal places are happy to take on working holiday makers, so our program is gaining traction in places like Sydney and Melbourne in particular.”
The Australia Tourism Export Council estimates Australia has around 34,000 unfilled jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Mr Jurberg said chefs were in most demand, as well as waiters, bar staff, porters, front desk and housekeeping staff.
He has called on the Australian government to ease restrictions on working holiday visas to allow more internationals into the workforce. “There is a massive shortage of staff within hospitality here and a huge demand from overseas applicants willing to work,” Mr Jurberg said. “Tourism Australia recognises this and recently launched a campaign targeting working holiday makers but now we need to widen the eligibility criteria.
“Australia should follow Canada’s example and increase the cut off age for working holiday makers from 30 to 35 and allow them to work for 12 months with one employer rather than the current six.
“The government must take action to make it more attractive for foreign workers to work in Australia and assist local businesses which have been suffering from staff shortages for too many years.”
