Significant labour shortages in key industries such as mining, construction and hospitality have led the Northern Territory government and private sector to begin hunting for workers globally — often competing against fellow states to recruit them.
The NT government this week announced a new employment campaign as part of its $12.8 million worker attraction program, seeking to recruit 100 employees from the United Kingdom to begin work in the territory's hospitality sector.
The campaign, led by Hospitality NT and supported by the government, will see 20 delegates from the hospitality industry conduct information sessions across the UK and Ireland, designed to connect employers with workers.
It follows the Chamber of Commerce NT, Minerals Council and Master Builders industry groups holding expos in India and the Philippines to attract a further 600 workers to the mining and construction industries.
Staff shortages have been hitting the territory hard in recent years — including during last year's peak tourism season — which have largely been attributed to the pandemic.
Business, Jobs and Training Minister Paul Kirby said recruiting more workers was key to the NT's post-COVID recovery, especially ahead of the upcoming peak tourism season.
"We know that the coming months will be really important, particularly for Darwin, and right up and down the Northern Territory. Our events go through the roof," he said.
"We do need a large workforce, and an overseas workforce is part of that."
UK immigrant Hayley Wynn is the events manager at Charlie's of Darwin, and will be one of the delegates on the UK trip. She said she was keen to promote Darwin to prospective workers rather than Sydney or Melbourne.
"I love the opportunities that Darwin has given me, that I wouldn't have had anywhere else in Australia," she said.
Running on empty
For Alice Springs Brewing Co owner Kyle Pearson, the trigger for staff shortages has been a lack of transient workers travelling through the NT during COVID-19.
It has proven an unexpected handbrake for his small business at a time when the tourism and hospitality industries are supposed to be rebounding.
"Off the back of COVID, we just haven't seen those backpacker numbers around that we normally rely on to get staff," he said.
"By not having the staff, we couldn't serve the same number of people that we'd normally serve, so we actually probably lost out a bit by not having enough staff."
Mr Pearson welcomed the upcoming drive for more workers, saying he hoped it would help fill out his rosters.
"I think the unemployment rate says it all. There's just not the people [in Australia] to fill the jobs," he said.
"Before COVID it was filled largely by backpackers … we need these people to come so we can fill these roles."
Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said the UK employment campaign would be running with one "very clear intent".
"We want more workers … more workers from all across the country and internationally," he said.
"We really need to get over there and start telling that message to a lot of people."
Industry groups go global for local workers
Since the start of the year, several industry groups representing the mining and construction industries have conducted four employment expos in the Philippines and India, in an effort to attract skilled workers to move to the territory.
Chamber of Commerce NT chief policy officer Stephen Goodall said the mining and construction industries were experiencing a shortage of approximately 5,000 skilled workers.
He said the push to attract workers to the territory, with the backing of a $200,000 grant from the NT government, was facing competition from not only other countries but also other Australian states and territories.
"We're just seeing shortages everywhere," he said.
"The Queensland government and WA government, including the premier [Mark McGowan], are jumping on aeroplanes and going and conducting their own expo-style activities, specifically to encourage people to come and stay in their states.
"I've seen pictures of large advertising billboards on the main highways in Manila, [in] train stations.
"We've done all sorts of promotion, both of the Northern Territory as a destination to come live and work, and then obviously the encouragement of people with real, tangible skills to be able to connect up with genuine employers."
Mr Goodall said the expos were expected to net the territory an extra 600 sponsored workers, with some already going through Department of Home Affairs approvals.
He said the next step was to "marry them up to Northern Territory businesses" looking for skilled workers, with the first arrivals expected to land in May or June.
"It's a four-year visa, it allows the successful applicant to bring their family with all of the normal benefits that go with that, and after year three, a pathway to migration," he said.
