Hospitality venues compete for staff with foreign workers still scarce

Asian Noodle House's Wittaya Manee-In says with fewer workers, competition for employers is now fierce. Picture: Keegan Carroll

Vacancies for roles once occupied by foreign workers are commonplace across Canberra's hospitality sector, an industry body says, but the "best thing" will be for larger Australian cities to make moves to solve the crisis and ease pressure on the territory.

Australian Hotels Association ACT general manager Anthony Brierley said the group had costed plans to bring in overseas workers en masse early in the pandemic, but had found the process to be exorbitant.