Staff shortage in retail sector hitting Orange hard, workers say

Businesses posting job notices isn't anything new, but according to those working within Orange's retail sector, this is the worst workers shortage they've seen in quite some time.

Natalie Reid is second in charge (2IC) at the Mathers shoe store in the upper level of the Orange Central Square Shopping Centre.

She said they have had a sign in their window asking for applicants for 12 months straight, but have "hardly got anyone".

"People that do come in, you call them back for an interview and they don't turn up," she said.

"It's been really hard because we haven't had the staff and the staff that we do have are getting really tired. It's been terrible."

She said with the ensuing Christmas and back-to-school periods coming up, they are on the hunt to hire four or five more staff members to compliment the six they already have on rosters.

When asked if the first thing people asked about in interviews was the wage, Ms Reid said "totally, 100 per cent".

"The sad thing is that you tell them and they say that they can get more from staying at home, so they won't continue with the interview," she said.

"It's very annoying because when they do turn up they go 'nah, not interested anymore'."

While she did not have the exact amount that potential staff would be making on hand, Ms Reid said they were able to offer people a consistent 25-30 hours per week of work.

"Our most senior girl is 70 next year and she's just come back out of retirement, thank god. Without the grey nomads, we'd have nobody," she said

Over at Terry White Chemist and Orange Compounding Pharmacy, the story is the same.

They are currently advertising for two full time pharmacists, two dispensary technicians and three shop assistants across the two stores.

Kate Gray, along with her son, manages both stores and also makes up part of the Pharmacy Council of NSW board.

She has worked in Orange for 45 years and said the lack of applicants is baffling.

"We've been running ads with Seek, on Instagram and Facebook, nobody, we're not even getting people applying," she said.

"I don't know where they've gone. It's been like this since about the middle of last year. The second COVID lockdown had a pronounced impact. It's as if the employment pool has completely dried up."

There are currently around 30 staff between the two stores - which fall under the same ownership group - although Ms Gray said most of those were part-time employees.

"Occasionally we'll have trouble getting pharmacists, which is the same everywhere, but I can't attract anyone now," she added.

"We all pay so far above the award, but that's not the issue, it's finding people."

The burden on staff has become so much, they have had to reduce their opening hours at the Compounding Pharmacy by two hours on Saturday so that they now only open from 8.30am until 12.30pm.

"At its busiest, there's wall-to-wall people and only three retail staff when we would normally have four. The phone just constantly rings and we just have to leave the phone," Ms Gray said.

"We just can't staff it and that's why we've cut off two hours there. We cut the Sunday a year-and-a-half ago and now we're cutting the Saturday back.

"In this entire block (along Summer Street), every single shop is looking for staff. I don't see an end to it. We're obviously going to have to bring people from overseas, but that process takes months and months."

Less than 100 metres up the road at Rivers, those same issues continue to rear its head.

Barbara Cooper has been the manager of the clothing store since it reopened in 2021.

On any given day, there may only be one or two staff members working.

"We have had an ad on Seek since about February and we're only getting dribs and drabs coming through," she said.

"Just having that extra person in here, it's extra security for us if a group of thieves come in."

The store's 2IC will soon be going on maternity leave, which means Ms Cooper not only has the tough task of hiring someone, but that of hiring someone who can step into a management level role.

"My issue is I need to have someone here that I am confident enough can step into my shoes," she said.

"I've worked in retail since I was 14 and I'm now 65. There's a lot of things I do on my own time because I have to.

"Where I'm at, at the moment, I need someone who has retail training and can learn quickly."

Another retail store manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as she did not have permission from their boss, said people's expectations were too high.

"We're finding that we're having to start from the very beginning with people who have no experience at all and train them from the ground up," they said.

"Before COVID, I could go through a list of applicants and pull out about eight people and at least want to hire three of them. Now, I'm lucky to get even four people apply and hire one.

"The Millennials, if you can call them that, they're reaching right to the top and not settling, which is a fantastic attribute, but everybody has to start somewhere."

So what do these store managers believe is the cause of the staff shortage?

Most put it down to a combination of things, namely government payments and COVID lockdowns having made people complacent.

"I think that the government has made it too easy for people to stay at home and they get better money for staying at home than they do for coming to work," Ms Reid said.

"Young ones just aren't applying."

Ms Cooper added: "People have got to apply for jobs because Centrelink says they have to.

"I've had that many people over the last 10 months that I have phoned, not turn up."

Ms Gray added they could get any number of schoolkids to work for them, but that would not solve their staffing issues during the middle of the day.

According to the General Retail Award from July 2021, a casual employee aged 21 or older, who was classified as a level one (the lowest) employee, would be entitled to earn $29.23 per hour as a base rate.

The latest figures from the Australian Government show that between September 20, 2022 and December 31 this year, the typical total rate for someone receiving a Jobseeker payment who was single and without any dependent children would be $677.20 a fortnight. This increased to $728.10 if the person had one or more dependent children.

This means that a level one retail worker aged 21 or older would need to work roughly 23 hours a fortnight in order to earn the same amount from their job, as they would from the government payment. A 19-year-old (classed as a junior employee) who met the same parameters as the example above would need to work roughly 29 hours in a fortnight to earn at a job what they would be getting from government payments.

Business NSW Western NSW regional manager Vicki Seccombe said that nine out of 10 businesses were reporting a struggle with staff shortages.

"A range of factors has contributed to this shortage, but a lack of returning skilled migrants, working holiday makers and international students to Australia has exacerbated it," she said.

"Businesses are telling us that it is definitely harder to fill entry level roles than highly skilled roles, but both areas are difficult to fill."

Across NSW, the unemployment rate for September sat at 3.5 per cent. Ms Seccombe said the Central West had one of the lowest unemployment rates in NSW at 2.4 per cent.

"I believe the number of people receiving government allowances in the Orange LGA is similar to what it was before COVID," she said.

"It's a complex issue and we need to be pulling a whole range of different levers to help more people into our workforce.

"This includes initiatives to support people into work, in particular for young people, aged pensioners and women. Also increasing skilled migrant numbers, cutting visa processing times, and encouraging the return of more working holiday makers and international students, and we are seeing a number of these initiatives underway."

The basic requirements to receive Jobseeker include that the person must be aged 22 or over but under the pension age, be unemployed or be temporarily unable to work or study due to illness or injury if the claimant has a job or study to return to.

The person must also carry out certain obligations, like meeting a points target where points are accrued by applying for jobs, participating in training or going to job interviews. Points targets differ from person to person and can vary based on location and personal circumstances.

An example provided by Workplace Australia said that if someone needed to apply for a minimum of four jobs each month, that person would earn 20 points towards their target.

Jobseeker is far from the only allowance people can claim though.

Youth Allowance, typically for young students, apprentices and job seekers, would see a single person between the ages of 18-24 with no dependent children, earn $371.60 per fortnight if they were still living at home with their parents or guardian, or $537.40 if they were living away from home. A person who was in a relationship would be given $537.40 if they had no dependent children and $585.10 if they did.

There are also supplementary payments like rent assistance that can be added onto those other payments.

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