Restaurant owner weighs in on Jobseeker furore
A restaurant owner from Melbourne has made his thoughts on Jobseeker clear, just days after Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union president Jez Heywood spoke to Ben Fordham in a tense interview.
Chris Lucas - the owner of a number of establishments including Chin Chin and Grill Americano - offered his take on that exchange, even informing Fordham that he had “plenty of opportunities” available should Heywood want to apply.
“The good news is we’ve got over 150 full-time and part-time jobs currently vacant in Melbourne and about 30 vacancies in Sydney,” Lucas explained.
His invitation took a turn, however, when he went on to add that those opportunities were for “anyone who wants to pull their finger out and get on with life and get a real job”, completely disregarding the numerous reasons someone may not be the right fit for - or able to take on - a specific role.
“We’d obviously like to meet Jez and see what kind of character he is,” he continued, “but at the end of the day if you’ve got a good character and a good work ethic, and are serious about making a contribution to society rather than being a dole bludger, of course [we want to hear from you].”
After noting that he was having a difficult time drawing in potential employees, Lucas asked why anyone would “at a time of record employment go and increase the dole by another $20 a week?”
He declared that it “doesn’t make any sense to him”, and shared his opinion that “it’s like taking a slab of beer to an Alcoholics Anonymous picnic.”
From there, he reiterated the fact that he had “nearly 200 vacancies” and that he knew of numerous other restaurants that had found themselves in a similar situation, “struggling to get workers”.
Superior People Recruitment’s Graham Wynn agreed, noting that he’d “run this business for about 15 years, I’ve got more work on my books than I’ve ever had and yet we’re still finding it difficult to find people to fill these vacancies.
“I’m happy to look at anybody’s resume at the moment, certainly to see if we can help them. We’re crying out for jobseekers.
“I think we all accept there are people out there who don’t want to work, but if they do want to work there is work out there definitely.
“For your own self esteem, getting back into work is critical.”
Images: Twitter