‘Every day is a challenge’: Long hours for short-staffed businesses – صحيفة الصوت

Owners and workers are putting in long hours on the job as school holidays and sickness pile more pressure on already Survey shows businesses worry about economy, staff shortages

* Help desperately wanted: 56 businesses within 2km are advertising for staff

* Mackenzie businesses welcome school holiday boom

* Full holiday flights trigger long queues at short-staffed airport

* Hanmer Springs desperate for summer staff as shortage leaves operators cutting hours

“>short-staffed businesses.

Tourist locations are lacking the backpackers they traditionally depend on as a temporary workforce, leaving accommodation and tourism business owners run off their feet.

At the Rustic cafe at Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury, owners Stacey and Zane Inglis are toiling for 12 or 13 hours a day, seven days a week.

Stacey Inglis said they had “shipped the kids off to their Nana” while they cover long shifts starting at 5am for the duration of the school holidays.

READ MORE:
* Survey shows businesses worry about economy, staff shortages
* Help desperately wanted: 56 businesses within 2km are advertising for staff
* Mackenzie businesses welcome school holiday boom
* Full holiday flights trigger long queues at short-staffed airport
* Hanmer Springs desperate for summer staff as shortage leaves operators cutting hours

“It’s been very busy, we are trying to keep it together. Staffing is a huge issue in Hanmer and everyone is short at the moment.

“Normally we rely on backpackers to take on jobs.”

Zane Inglis said he was working as “part chef, part dishwasher”, as well as filling other roles to keep the doors open and customers happy.

The cafe has five staff, down from the normal seven or eight, and some of those have been off sick.

James Ace, co-owner of Future Hospitality Group which runs five bars and restaurants in Queenstown, said business these school holidays was up about 250% from last month.

The company has about 55 staff and they could use a dozen more full-timers, Ace said.

“The guys are pulling some big hours. We’ve made the decision to close a business or two for one day, just to give staff a bit of a reprieve.

“It’s a cost to the business, but we want to keep hold of them, so we’re front-footing it.”

Trade has been “just nuts” and they were turning away 100 to 150 customers a night, he said.

Another company juggling staff across several venues is Hanmer Hospitality Ltd, which owns five bars and restaurants in Hanmer Springs.

Director Alan McNabb said they sometimes need to close at least one venue to keep the others sufficiently staffed.

He said they were already stretched with roles not filled, and now winter illnesses and Covid were hitting the staff they had. Some former staff were even coming in to help out, he said.

“We start every day thinking things are fine, and then we’ve got three staff down sick. On Saturday, we were three chefs short, in the middle weekend of the school holidays.

“The managers all just have to roll their sleeves up, we either have our hands in the sink or we’re pulling pints.”

Losing the backpacker employment market because of the pandemic had affected the whole town, he said.

“They’d come here travelling from somewhere like England, want to work as much as they could for a few months, then move on.

“Young Kiwis don’t want to live in a small town, or work weekends. That’s when we’re busy.”

The company is now paying staff double time after 10pm on Saturdays to get enough people for late shifts. They also have accommodation available to try and attract staff.

McNabb said that from a resident population of about 1000, the town swells to between 4000 and 5000 during holiday periods, and 6000 when the town is at its fullest.

“Every day is a challenge.”

One Christchurch motelier, who did not want to be named, said she and her husband were doing “horrendous” hours because of the lack of staff.

She said they could not get housekeepers despite paying $30 an hour, and as the work was only part-time they could not recruit overseas.

“We advertise a job, and no-one even replies. We are struggling, and everyone is starting to get burned out. But our team are working super hard and we’re all doing our best.”