Older workers returning to hospitality: Report

The Big Shift: The Changing Landscape of Australian Hospitality looked into the impact of slowed migration on businesses and shift workers and found that employers are now actively seeking older workers to fill the gaps left by Australia’s migration downturn, especially in the hospitality sector.

The report was done in partnership with independent labour economist Shashi Karunanethy and used data from the analysis of more than 14,987,187 shifts and 97,161,264 hours across an average of 31,718 shift workers per month.

The report found that older workers are coming out of retirement to join the hospitality industry. In the accommodation sector, the proportion of shift work hours staffed by Baby Boomers grew from 13 per cent to 14 per cent and among cafes and coffee shops, the proportion of shift work hours staffed by Gen X grew from 11 per cent to 12 per cent.

Mr Karunanethy said this is most likely due to businesses making a concerted effort to improve labour conditions in order to encourage older generational cohorts to enter the workforce. Following on from the Jobs and Skills Summit, older workers can now work more hours before their pensions are affected and Mr Karunanethy believes the increase in older hospitality workers is a reflection of this change.

To fill the gaps left by migrants, the report found more local employees are working more hours in hospitality businesses and while Millennials continue to take up the majority of shift work hours, the generational makeup in the hospitality industry is shifting, with Gen X, Gen Z and Baby Boomers staffing more shifts. 

Sit-down restaurants saw the greatest generational shift with a 5 per cent decline in Millennials, and a 5 per cent increase in Gen Z. If the sector continues to change at this pace, Gen Z will be the largest cohort in sit-down restaurants in five years.

As a consequence of the staff shortages, the report also found that hospitality is making a conscious effort to provide more flexibility and certainty of shifts in order to encourage women to enter the workforce.

It found that women are working 48 per cent of shift work hours, up from 47.9 per cent in 2020. The largest increases for female shift workers were seen in cafes and coffee shops (4 per cent), where women now work the majority of shift work hours.

The labour shortages have also meant that many hospitality workers have also taken on extra shifts at various hospitality venues, and they are working longer hours than before the pandemic. Mr Karunanethy said this is a direct result of the casualisation of work and increased opportunities in the gig economy. He said the rising cost of living has also meant that shift workers in hospitality are working multiple jobs to cope with rising inflation.

The recovery of the hospitality sector has been mixed with accommodations and sit-down restaurants seeing the largest employment gains and recoveries into 2022 with 50 per cent and 30 per cent increases in shift work hours respectively as compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Bars and fast food restaurants, on the other hand, are continuing to face labour shortages. To date, bars continue to employ 20 per cent fewer shift work hours compared to pre-pandemic levels. The sector is facing other challenges such as the increased price pressures from food and alcohol suppliers, as well as difficulty transitioning to new revenue opportunities in takeaway and delivery services.

While food restaurants are scheduling 40 per cent fewer hours than before the pandemic, this is largely due to the fact this sector has embraced food delivery models and labour-replacing technologies, resulting in having to employ fewer total shift work hours.