2024 - Australia also lacks arms

Like the situation in France, in the land of kangaroos too, a general shortage of labor is hampering economic recovery, as this French baker from Sydney testifies.

Some employers are ready for anything, such as offering golden bridges to recruit, bonuses of the equivalent of several thousand euros, even for waiter and low-skilled positions.

This is not yet the case for Adrien Chrunyk. Born in Garches, near Paris, the Frenchman opened a bakery, called “Uncle Bread”. He acknowledges that today it is also difficult in Australia to find serious employees: “It’s complicated to find a stable workforce, he testifies, with so many places to fill, suddenly it becomes complicated.

In Adrien Chrunyk's bakery in Sydney. The labor shortage is the consequence of a zero Covid strategy applied by Australia and which resulted in the total closure of the country's borders for two years. (Uncle Bread) — In Adrien Chrunyk’s bakery in Sydney. The labor shortage is the consequence of a zero Covid strategy applied by Australia and which resulted in the total closure of the country’s borders for two years. (Uncle Bread)

Adrien arrived in Sydney in 2017 with his wife and daughter. After working for two years for an Australian boss, which enabled him to obtain his residency papers, the Frenchman set up his own business, a tiny bakery in the trendy district of “Surry Hills” in Sydney. A booming district, with its trendy cafes, fashion boutiques and international restaurants, which Adrien delivers with French breads and pastries, in addition to the customers of his store and the markets.

With a turnover around the equivalent of 600,000 euros per year, his shop employs seven or eight employees. At 3.5%, Australia’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in 70 years. Add to this also the fact that Sydney is a tourist city with a lot of passage. Adrien testifies that recruiting the right person sometimes takes him several weeks, even several months.

In Adrien Chrunyk's bakery in Sydney. Sydney is a busy tourist city. Recruiting the right person sometimes takes several weeks or even months. (Uncle Bread) — In Adrien Chrunyk’s bakery in Sydney. Sydney is a busy tourist city. Recruiting the right person sometimes takes several weeks or even months. (Uncle Bread)

Immigration quotas raised

Result: he offers a bonus to a salesperson who stays for more than four or five months. Once a year, it also reviews all salaries upwards, generally above the average for Sydney, where the standard of living is much higher than in France. To make up for the shortage, he and his pastry chef wife also got back to work in the bakery.

“If we want a French workforce, young French bakers will go to Sydney but will want to travel to Australia. So they won’t stay long. It’s often a rotating workforce. We’re going to keep them maybe two, three months, so it’s really very hard to maintain consistency in production. And if we turn to foreign labor, Australian or South Asian or whatever, that’s the experience that may not be suitable for French bakery, so you have to learn everything.”

This shortage is the consequence of a zero Covid strategy, applied by Australia, which resulted in the total closure of the country’s borders for two years. The Australian government is well aware of this. Also to remedy this, and for the first time since the Second World War, it has reversed its immigration quotas, raising them by 25% this year to welcome up to 200,000 foreigners per year.