Trainers battle to keep workers in these tough times
AS trainers vent their frustration at the longer hours they are being forced to work, it has emerged that 2020 is proving the most difficult year to attract and keep staff in the industry.
Eagle Farm’s Chris Anderson has been training 10 years and said it was more difficult than ever to find staff, particularly this year with COVID, where international workers have dried up and JobSeeker has discouraged others from working.
“We used to employ so many foreign workers. That’s dried up this year,” he said.
“Staff are the most important aspect in racing. They are the No.1 priority because without them we have nothing.
“If we can’t have good staff doing the best thing for our horses then we’re in trouble.”
Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke says changes made by the government to work visas had made it extremely difficult to employ international staff, which for a long time have been integral to training businesses.
“The idea behind the visa rule change was to encourage more Australians to work in our industry. But they don’t want to work in our industry and the country people we used to get, there’s a large number of them who have hung up their riding boots and are working in the mines,” Vandyke said.
“Where are we meant to get the new wave of staff under the current conditions?”
Anderson, like Gold Coast trainer Toby Edmonds, believes the way of the future is to be able to train at later hours in the morning, negating the necessity for 2am-3am starts.
“I think the days of having a horse on the track at 4am should be looked at. Why can’t we work it at 5.30 and try to make it more of a normal day for an employee, rather than asking them to do split shifts?” Anderson said.
“At the moment, much of a life.”
Racing Queensland is open to this suggestion but notes it comes down to individual tracks and clubs. it’s not