PUBS have been left so desperate for staff they are offering a £3,000 sign-on bonus and a six-figure salary- but no one wants to take it up.
Bosses in the hospitality industry have been forced to come up with new ways to lure workers for high-demand positions.
The Orchard Hotel in Chatswood, Sydney, which has been looking to fill in the position of head chef, has even resulted in offering a £3,000 referral bonus.
Owner Matt Docker told 9News it was the first time his business had to offer money for a referral.
In order to find the right candidate, he said he has also forked out around £900 to the job website Seek to advertise the position.
In addition, the business owner has resorted to posting the job vacancy on social media.
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He eventually succeeded in hiring a new head chef but admitted he struggled to find applicants.
He said: "Getting good staff and holding on to them is tough, it's a shocker.
"It's almost like every week I've got a staff member leaving because they've got a better option.
"To be honest, I probably paid a bit more than I wanted to for a head chef but I was quite vulnerable and it's one of the most important positions (at the hotel)."
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The Orchard has also been offering a £160 referral bonus for bar staff as it has been struggling to find candidates.
The owner added: "About four or five weeks ago I had to shut the public bar. I just wouldn't even open it some days because I didn't have enough staff in the roster to build a shift."
Docker who is also the owner of the Earlwood Hotel said that the pub has struggled even more with staffing due to its location.
He said: "My general manager is basically at his wit's end because he can't fill his rosters.
"He needs someone on the bar so what he is doing is filling in as a bartender. He is doing his job and then an 8-hour bar shift."
According to the government's skills priority list, staff shortages have affected over 280 jobs with chefs being the eighth most in demand.
The spokesperson for the NSW Australian Hotels Association John Green said: "Some of the head chefs are getting multiple, six-figure sums."
He added that some hotel owners have even tried to secure accommodation in order to attract more applicants.
He said: "We've actually seen operators buying nearby houses to have workers share accommodation in places."
"If you're a venue, like a hotel, that has accommodation as well as food and beverage and using all your accommodation for staff you're cutting off a revenue stream, so operators have to be creative."
Australia is facing critical staff shortages in the hospitality industry with over 200,000 workers needed to fill positions in pubs, restaurants, cafes, and hotels, according to the job search platform Barcats.
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The company's chief executive Jeffrey Williams told news.com.au: "The hospitality industry in Australia is worth $71.3bn, and right now, it is time to call in the reinforcements because if we are any chance of seeing hospitality soar this summer, we need support.
"We need 200,000 new workers, which is three times the size of the entire Australian Defence Force."
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