Cherries offered with chef position
Michele Passarello is offering three months of free accommodation in an effort to find a new chef for his Paraparaumu-based Italian restaurant, Passo.
He has increased wages for existing staff to retain them and created a shared profit scheme, which after a good week meant
$50 to $60 extra in his full-timers’ pockets.
Passarello is not alone in having to fight for workers in a tight job market.
Companies are increasingly offering sign-on bonuses, workfrom-home options, and stating the wages on offer in job ads, according to labour market data firm Lightcast.
Analysis of advertisements showed the percentage of jobs advertising a wage increased from 10% in 2019 to 27% this year.
Back in 2020, phrases like ‘‘sign-up bonus’’ and ‘‘starting bonus’’ were almost non-existent in job ads, with the average month only having about four listings using the terms.
By comparison, there were 146 jobs advertising sign-on bonuses in August this year.
Ads offering the opportunity to work from home had seen a similar boom.
During 2019, there was an average of 59 job adverts in New Zealand per month that allowed people to work from home.
In August this year, there were 1361, and that was down from July, when there were 1537.
Data from Seek backs this up, the job website reporting ‘‘working from home’’ advertisements had increased 1100% since 2019.
‘‘Thirty-nine per cent of jobseekers say they would resign if work-from-home was not an option,’’ a Seek spokesperson said.
Sign-on perks recorded by the website included a $20,000 bonus for general practice doctors, pharmacies offering up to $10,000 for pharmacists to start and relocate, store managers being offered $2000, and hospitality businesses offering $500 sign-on bonuses for new waiters, the spokesperson said.
Brad Gatehouse is executive search lead at recruitment agency Tribe and has seen his share of employers going the extra line to secure talent.
‘‘I heard someone the other day, I forget what the role was, but they were on $85,000 and they jumped, and their new job paid $125,000.
‘‘Flexi-work, work-from-home, sign-on bonuses, an extra week’s holiday, we are seeing a lot of that kind of stuff.
‘‘Often stuff is packaged up as a relocation allowance but it is really a sign-on bonus.’’
The brain drain was also contributing to labour shortages, Gatehouse said, with young accountants, lawyers, and tech workers all flocking overseas.
Lightcast senior economist
Layla O’kane said the rates at which job ads stated wages varied depending on earning level, with a disproportionate increase in advertised salaries in the $50,000 to $75,000 range, and a decrease in advertised salaries in the $75,000-plus range.
Gatehouse put this down to higher-paying roles typically having more transparent expectations and trust they would be fulfilled.
He said advertising wages for higher-paid roles could also create pay parity issues within companies, if those already employed saw similar roles being advertised for more money.
Lower-paid roles were more variable, and employers might be more likely to try to underpay.
O’kane said some industries had larger increases in advertised salaries than others.
‘‘The health industry, for example, has seen advertised salary rates move from 8% in 2020 to 19% in 2022.
‘‘Another large movement can be observed in advertised salary rates for trades occupations, with advertised salary rates moving from 8% in 2020 to 29% in the 2022 year to date.’’
She said employers were trying to encourage applicants by advertising the money they could make on the job.
‘‘This also may cut down on hiring timelines since it reduces mismatch between applicants’ expected wages and employers’ willingness to pay.’’
Unemployment sits at the low level of 3.3%.
Passarello said increases in ingredients and operations costs were making it harder to meet employee wage expectations, and immigration settings were making it harder to bring workers in from overseas.
His current chef ad had received seven applications, all from overseas but he said it cost about $750 to become an accredited migrant employer, and roughly $600 to process each application.
He said New Zealand had become a less attractive place to be, with would-be-migrants going online and seeing high interest rates, housing costs and lack of available rentals.
‘‘A lot of people are declining the offer, saying they have a better offer from Canada. They offer them residency and low interest rates,’’ Passarello said.
Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said the industry was ‘‘hamstrung by suboptimal immigration settings’’.
‘‘The industry is crying out for people, particularly cooks and chefs.’’
She said recent increases to the holiday visas helped a little but were not the answer.
‘‘These visas allow individuals to work in a business for three months, which can help with a busy period but is not a long-term solution.
‘‘Having someone to work in the business for at least a year is preferable and even better is three years.’’