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Category: Business, Economics and Finance

NT businesses ponder shortage of panel beaters, bakers

Thursday, 5 Jan 2017 17:20:58 | Dijana Damjanovic

Boat shed Coffee House owner John Bonnin and Italian baker Angelo Pinto with some of his creations. (ABC News: Dijana Damjanovic)

A shortage of bakers, panel beaters and auto electricians is hitting employers hard, as they say it has never been harder to find and keep a worker in the Top End.

John Bonnin spent two years looking for a baker to work in his café in the waterside suburb of Cullen Bay.

"We advertised Australia-wide, and a few people did come up, and the skill set that they had may have been what we wanted, but they didn't want to stay here," he said.

"We've found that you get the 'yeah, yeah, we're staying, we love it,' and then they get enough money to go to Broome or their next destination three weeks later. It's a continuum and it's exhausting."

After two years of trying to hire someone locally, Mr Bonnin eventually sponsored an Italian baker to come to Darwin.

"It fortunately worked out, the customers like his baking, and we are beginning to get on top of the game," he said.

After working in Sydney and Melbourne, baker Angelo Pinto is hoping to eventually get permanent residency and stay in Darwin.

"I love Australia and Darwin," he said.

"This job is great because I'm always doing something new and it doesn't feel like I'm in a bread factory."

People leaving NT to work on projects interstate

Sabrina Borke who founded Celtic Migration, which has been providing employment and migration services in the Northern Territory for 10 years, said people were leaving the NT to work on major projects in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

"Those jobs are advertised much better and are more abundant than major projects in the NT," she said.

"Employers in NT talk about the laid-back attitude of local workers, who lack the understanding about what the requirements are for work."

She said she did not see local employers trying to compete with other states in such industries as baking, where there was a shortage of specialised staff Australia-wide.

Permanent local staff are near impossible to get

Brian Measey has been running car hire businesses in Darwin for 60 years and is currently advertising for a full-time panel beater.

A car with its bonnet popped inside a workroom, surrounded by machinery Photo: Brian Measey's car hire business is on the lookout for a panel beater. (ABC News: Dijana Damjanovic)

"We've been looking for about six months, on and off for the last few years," he said.

"We get transients coming through, they don't stay. We're looking for permanent, local staff which are near impossible to get at the moment."

He said he didn't think the close to $40 billion Inpex Japanese-led LNG project had done Darwin any favours.

"It's good for our business sometimes, and other times it's a hindrance because they take all the good staff out of the town," Mr Measey said.

"Forty years ago you didn't have a problem getting any sort of staff in this town."

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