With lengthening days and more heat comes an uptick in long-lunches and after work drinks. This demand means staff need to be hired, trained, and prepared for the extra people who are likely to walk through the door.
House Made Hospitality Director Justin Newton says that pre-Covid, Melbourne Cup in November would signify the start of the busy season. But in 2025, demand was already increasing in October. “We felt it come a little earlier this year,” Newton tells Hospitality. “I think it’s the result of a very miserable winter. The sun’s come out now, people have got a bit more cash to spend, [and] we’re really finding that things are starting to ramp up a bit earlier than expected.”
Of course, with that comes the need for extra staff. “We are definitely on the hunt for more team members,” says Newton. While House Made Hospitality is “always recruiting”, in summer there’s no time to waste. Newton says it’s a competitive market because everyone is trying to do the same thing, at the same time.
“We start to hold what we call ‘cattle call’ days. We invite a whole bunch of people who have applied to come and do a mass interview, with the aim of offering the job to them that day.” It’s different to how they usually recruit, which is perhaps the standard process of having an interview and a trial shift that potentially results in a job offer. But Newton says that whole process can take a week, or even longer, which right now they “just don’t have the time” for.
With a growing portfolio across Sydney, including the likes of Hinchcliff House, Tilda, This Way Canteen, Martinez, Etheus, and more, they have the luxury of using scale to move staff where needed. Newton says their CBD venues are quieter over the Christmas period as workers leave the city, while they expect their suburban venues in the likes of Surry Hills and Bondi to be busier.
“We started House Made Hospitality about four and a half years ago. The reason we started it wasn’t to make money, because it’s a very tough industry. But my partners and I all loved hospitality, we’re hospitality lifers,” says Newton. “Training, development, and nurturing is a core part of any decent hospitality group’s MO, as these days the industry is quite transient.”
He points to Covid as an example of how quickly things can crash overnight. And now, the Government has taken away the ability to sponsor front-of-house staff. “We could have the best sommelier or front-of-house leader in the world, but there’s a time limit to when they need to leave,” he says, stressing the importance of investing and training local staff.
Beyond that, people want to learn, says Newton. “People want to feel like they’re being developed, particularly this younger generation coming through,” he adds. “It’s my firm belief no one comes to work wanting to do a bad job. No one goes, ‘I’m going to really suck at work today’.”
“If they’re not doing a great job, it’s probably something to do with the way that you’ve onboarded them, or inducted them, or even trained them, so training is a core part of what we need to do.”
During the warmer, busier period, House Made Hospitality holds mass training sessions to make this work. “This is a period where we really need to invest in order to get the outcomes that we need,” he explains.
On top of that, retention is important, he says. “There’s a cost to having to rehire. It is crazy to lose somebody, to have your team down one person for several weeks while you’re rehiring. It means the rest of the team have to pick up the slack, many have to do more shifts, or maybe there’s one less person per service. Everyone’s accountability increases, which causes undue stress on the team, which means service standards drop,” he says.
He adds that advertising the job and having someone in HR trawl through CVs and undertake phone screenings all takes more time. “Having a consistent team that is retained, you save all that, but there’s also the plus of having a team that’s worked together for a while. They’ve built that rapport,” he says.
“Getting a team to stick around through development and through training is probably the most important thing about business.”
Alzado Restaurant Manager Wietse Bruin says retention for them is key. Given their Bondi location, they have “no issue” with finding staff, as they receive multiple CVs a day, particularly in summer. But generally, those CVs are from backpackers and without consistent, regular staff to train newcomers, it wouldn’t work. Bruin says they’re lucky, because they can start staff in the more “casual space” downstairs at Hotel Ravesis, and then move them into Alzado when they are ready.
“It’s a big menu, a different menu. You don’t learn that in a day. And then the wine list comes with that as well, and the cocktail knowledge,” says Bruin. At Alzado’s predecessor Ravesis, and now at Alzado, Bruin says they push staff to get used to the business and its procedures, before letting them “grow in the right direction”. Currently, the venue has two managers who grew into their roles over a couple of years.
He says they try to keep things as fun as possible to ensure staff retention. “It’s a family business. It’s a small business. We’re not part of a group,” he says.
The business constantly trains its staff, including those who have been onboard long-term. They also get the team involved in creating cocktails for the menu or getting feedback from them on ways they could improve. “I think there are always ways you can learn,” he says. “We’ll try and motivate our stuff in that way and then we try and run quite a few incentives for staff as well, which stimulates them and helps them and the business.”
Allara Global Chief Executive Andrew Lewis agrees. Lewis says building your workforce is a simple, core principle, and caring for your employees means they will care for your customers.
“If you treat casual staff merely as temporary help, that’s all they are likely to be. However, if you treat them as potential members of your core team, providing them with skills and making them feel valued, you give them a reason to stay,” says Lewis. “This approach builds a powerful pipeline for future talent, turning seasonal hires into loyal, permanent employees when opportunities arise.”
Lewis says every employee, whether they are with you for two weeks or two years, is an ambassador for your brand. “During a busy period like Christmas, a few weeks of poor or inconsistent service from untrained staff can create a trail of negative reviews that lasts long after the holiday period is over. Proper training is essential for brand protection.”
He adds that investing in training has a positive impact beyond a single business; it affects the health and longevity of the entire hospitality sector. “By investing in all our people, we collectively raise industry standards and improve the culture, making it a more attractive career path. This ultimately contributes to the strength of the national hospitality and tourism economy,” Lewis says.
Allara, for example, is currently working with a client who is putting 75 of their team members, both casual and permanent, through training on guest experience, sales, and handling customer complaints. “This shows a clear commitment to valuing every employee, whatever their status, and investing in the industry’s future,” he says.
“This is about a duty of care. Casual team members face the same workplace risks as everyone else. Providing them with proper training isn’t just good business sense; it’s a legal and ethical responsibility.”
Photography by Steven Woodburn and Alzado.
This story was originally published in the November/December 2025 edition of Hospitality magazine. Read more or subscribe here.
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