Hospitality industry in Orange still facing a staff shortage

Orange's retail managers were the first to speak out about the ongoing employment issues, with many stating that the problem dates back at least 12 months.

Now other sectors have had their say and it is more of the same.

Liz Mendigorin manages the Leaf Café located inside the Orange City Centre said things have been particularly difficult in their kitchen.

"We cannot find a chef and it's been months that we've been looking," she said.

"What we had to do, because I have more staff in the front, we had to cross-train them and train them how to cook the food.

"So whenever I am short-staffed I can call on them. That's why we are coping."

But just because they are coping, doesn't mean there have not been changes as a result of the staffing crisis.

"We had to revise the menu and took out some food that took time to make, so now it's more quick and easy," Ms Mendigorin added.

"If I put myself into the shoes of the person we're cross-training, I think how exhausting it is for that person. We need to give them rest. We're helping each other and that's how we're coping."

The manager believes there are the numbers in town to help solve the problem, but said they are turning more regularly to overseas work.

"There are people, they just don't want to work. For me, there is no shortage, it's just people get a bit lazy sometimes," Ms Mendigorin said.

"I contact my friends from outside Australia, trying to encourage them to study here and then they can come here in Orange, study and work with us.

"Most of our employees are students here. We're helping some people to come to Australia."

Over at landscape company Ecoscape Solutions, things have picked up recently in terms of employment.

But owner Daniel Curran confirmed it was a lean 12 months for them.

"It all started back in Covid. It was too good a deal not to resign and get paid $650 a week to not work," he said.

"Now, people are actually starting to look for work again. In saying that, we're looking for some skilled labour and I've got some really good candidates applying."

Mr Curran said that in the 12 months prior to the recent application surge, there was "zero" interest.

He puts that recent success down to more overseas applicants.

"The people who are applying on Indeed and Seeks are just trying to get their foot in Australia and their qualifications are all there," he added.

"Things have started to turn the corner. We had an ad running on indeed and had nine applicants, five from overseas and one from Orange."

While he was delighted to see a sudden influx of would-be workers, there was one notable change in peoples' approach to employment.

"The very first question most people will ask is 'what is the pay'. It turns me off," he said.

"You should want to know about the job before you know about the pay. The job should fit the pay, not the pay fitting the job. That's the new normal though and there's no going back."

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