Australia is in the midst of a barista shortage, yet a series of new visa rules could make it even harder for café owners to hire and retain skilled international staff. BeanScene investigates.
As of mid January 2025, there were just shy of 10,000 barista and 2500 café manager roles advertised on Australia’s most popular recruitment website. These numbers are just a drop in the ocean for the hospitality sector, which for the past four years has experienced a dearth of skilled staff amid other challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis and high coffee prices.
According to Wes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Café Association (ARCA), the café sector is bearing the brunt of the issue.
“Australia has a severe shortage of baristas. There are more open barista positions than any other segment of the Accommodation and Foodservice sector,” he says.
“Cafés are doing it the toughest and yet, on 3 December 2024, the current government removed café managers from the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL).”
Coming up short
In a shake up of the existing visa program, the new CSOL replaces the occupation lists that were part of the temporary skills visa. On 7 December 2024, the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa was replaced by the Skills in Demand visa, which includes a Core Skills stream determined by the CSOL. While café managers previously featured on the skilled occupation list, they do not feature on the new CSOL.
“This is a big problem because very few cafés qualify for the Premium Dining Labour Agreement stream, which applies to businesses that have more than $2 million in revenue, a wine list, and are not franchised. Therefore, as it stands there is no pathway for café managers to come into Australia and be sponsored,” says Wes.
“According to the real-time occupation shortage calculator on the Jobs and Skills Australia website, there isn’t a shortage of café and restaurant managers nationally – although there is in certain states and regions. However, this is little consolation for the thousands of café and restaurant owners who have sponsored managers whose visas won’t be renewed or those who were looking to sponsor and won’t be able to.”
The most recent stats acquired by ARCA report that about 20 per cent of workers in the Accommodation and Foodservice sector are visa holders and about 35 per cent in the sector were not born in Australia. For decades, international staff have formed the backbone of the Australian hospitality industry.
The decision by the government to remove café managers from the list is part of a suite of changes over the past couple of years that Wes describes as “a recipe for disaster” amid the current shortage of skilled workers in the sector. He believes the shortfall of baristas is a result of multiple factors, including a reduction in young Australians wanting to work in the sector.
“Australian Gen Zs and Millennials don’t necessarily want to work in the Accommodation and Foodservice sector. Some will take up jobs when they’re 15 or 16, but those who go to university often move away from work altogether or take fewer shifts because they’re being supported by the bank of mum and dad,” he says.
Cap it off
Another element that has contributed to the shortage is the cap on working hours for international students. Introduced to encourage students to prioritise studies, the cap of 24 working hours per week was in place before the COVID-19 pandemic and removed during the pandemic. It was reinstated in July 2023.
“This was compounded by the recent attempt by the federal government to introduce a cap to the number of international students studying in Australia,” says Wes.
As well as international students, working holiday makers have traditionally contributed to Australia’s hospitality workforce. For some countries, there is a cap on the number of first Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas that can be granted. Wes says the current government has placed caps on many of the countries that the hospitality industry previously relied upon for workers.
“Taking into account all these factors, you have a situation where cafés end up being worse than almost any other business type,” he says.
“One million of the 13 million people employed in Australia work in the Accommodation and Foodservice sector. It’s a foundation industry: it’s relatively low paid, relatively low skilled, and it underpins the entire workforce of Australia. Therefore, these sweeping changes to migration have a huge impact and effect on thousands of businesses.”
Before the CSOL was confirmed in December, throughout 2024 there were rumours of changes in Victoria and New South Wales, with many believing Western Australia would be a safe haven for café managers seeking sponsorship.
“There are regional areas and certain state-based agreements where, for example, Pacific Islanders can come to certain industries and work under agreement. However, that is different from CSOL which is nationwide,” says Wes.
“Some states will have agreements with particular regional areas, but a standard café in a CBD cannot sponsor a café manager and will be affected by the changes in CSOL, international student caps, international student working hours, and working holiday makers from certain countries.”
Wes stresses that these changes have been years in the making so it will take some time to see the impact on the café industry. He believes it won’t be until October 2025, when the next high season kicks off, that the visa changes will be felt by café and restaurant owners.
When the CSOL was announced in December, ARCA received dozens of emails from café and restaurant owners currently sponsoring individuals who were very disappointed.
“They’re worried about the uncertainty in migration that is currently hanging above the heads of businesses,” he says.
“Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to business and business investment. Human capital and human resources are a huge factor. If you don’t have enough people to expand your business, it becomes impossible.”
Expansion grounded
Jacob Maarabani, Owner of Atrium café in Sydney Airport’s Terminal 1, says these visa changes have had a huge impact on his business, which is reliant on international staff and was already struggling to retain skilled baristas.
“These changes have impacted our ability to retain skilled international staff, who are such an integral part of our team. Operating in an international hub like Sydney Airport, we rely on staff who are passionate about hospitality and willing to adapt to the unique environment of the airport,” he says.
He believes the biggest repercussion of having a high turnover of staff is consistency and quality of the product. As a café owner, he says the government isn’t helping his business prosper.
“Having a high turnover of staff affects the consistency and quality we strive to deliver to travellers. Retaining experienced team members not only helps our business but ensures visitors have a seamless and high-quality experience at the airport,” says Jacob.
“The airport is an exciting place to work, connecting us to people from all over the world. I’m committed to doing everything I can to support my staff and help them grow with us.
“I hope future policies can align with this vision, enabling businesses like mine to thrive in such a dynamic environment.”
Heading west
Until late 2024, Indonesian national Edward Leong was the Café Manager of Pablo & Rusty’s Sydney CBD venue. Edward loved his job and the city he’d called home since 2017, yet he says the removal of café managers from the CSOL left him no other option but to leave the state in order to remain in Australia.
“It was very sad to have to leave the company and the team in Sydney. I built a culture there and contributed a lot to the New South Wales economy,” he says.
“There are plenty of café manager roles currently available in Western Australia, so there are a lot more opportunities for me there now.”
As hospitality and tourism is a priority sector for migration in Western Australia, Edward hopes the move with enable him to seek nomination for permanent residency – something he says is no longer an option for him in New South Wales.
“It’s a huge change for me. I don’t know anyone in Western Australia. I’ve lived in Sydney for the past seven years and now I have to leave everything behind,” he says.
“The majority of people view café and restaurant managers as a low-skilled employment, but that’s not the case. I’ve done my postgraduate degree and applied high level business strategy into the hospitality setting I work within.”
The road ahead
While each employment situation is unique, ARCA is sharing straightforward advice for café owners affected by the visa changes.
“We encourage everyone who can to get on a pathway to permanent residency, self sponsor, or continue their education,” says Wes.
“There’s also a huge call for the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system [a government-run vocational education and training pathway] to up its game to produce more restaurant and café managers.”
This article appears in the February/March 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
