Labour shortages hit tourism business
Chronic labour shortages are affecting the bottom line of many tourism businesses, an online industry survey has found.
More than 75 percent of respondents to an Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) survey on labour shortages in the tourism industry said they were having difficulty finding permanent staff in the current economic climate and this was affecting business performance.
Only 15 percent of respondents said they were not having difficulties securing permanent employees.
“Almost half of respondents also said labour issues were holding back their business growth while two-thirds said the problem was affecting their customer service levels,” ATEC Managing Director Matthew Hingerty said.
The survey was conducted online through the industry group’s website and its atx magazine.
Mr Hingerty said the tourism industry had been lobbying the federal government in support of a range of issues aimed at attracting more workers to the tourism industry.
These included extending the existing working holiday maker scheme for backpackers to allow them to work longer in one place; introducing a working holiday maker type visa for the US; and in encouraging foreign worker visas to be made available to the industry.
ATEC also recently supported the federal government’s proposed pilot scheme to pay unemployed workers $5000 to relocate to regional areas for work, Mr Hingerty said
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