They are the jobs lazy Aussies – or Lozies – don’t want to do: picking fruit, scrubbing pans and baking bread.
Even holding up a stop-go sign is too hard for many Australians who would prefer to bludge on the dole.
Employers complain Australian workers don’t want to fill what they see as menial roles, that many are unreliable and they expect too much too soon.
They are also often unwilling to travel or move for a good job.
The problem was highlighted this month when a Queensland dairy farm could not attract local interest in a job that paid $50,000 and came with free accommodation.
Many Australian workers are unwilling to take on menial jobs such as kitchen hand positions
Picking fruit is just too hard for many Australians who leave such jobs to foreign workers
Stop-go traffic control jobs are among those dominated by foreign workers, or ‘lollipop lasses’
Hairdressing salons are always looking out for suitable, qualified employees (stock image)
Jobs in fruit and vegetable picking are also unpopular with Australian workers, as are many roles within meat processing such as abattoir labour.
James Whiteside, CEO of AUSVEG, the industry body for vegetable growers, said producers relied heavily on foreign workers as a source of labour, especially during peak seasonal periods.
‘Australian vegetable growers always have a preference to employ Australian workers, but the reality is that our industry has a substantial need to hire foreign workers, as local workers are often unwilling to work on vegetable farms or are an unreliable source of labour,’ Mr Whiteside said.
‘These workers work alongside local workers in all areas of the farm, including in the field and in the packing shed, to ensure that produce makes it to consumers.’
Apart from primary production, other businesses which rely heavily on foreign workers include the restaurant, cleaning and traffic control industries.
Hairdressers are also constantly seeking to fill positions with suitable staff.
A pub operator with more than two decades in the food and beverage industry said while he did not discriminate against Australian workers his life was made easier hiring foreigners.
‘I love employing foreigners who appreciate their job,’ he said.
Seasonal work such as fruit picking often requires travel, as well as hard physical labour
One publican says he hires foreign kitchen hands because they are more reliable (stock image)
‘I find the reliability and the tenure of employment much more stable.
‘I find them very appreciative of a good work environment. And they come with less baggage. They bring less problems to work.
The publican, most of whose kitchen staff are foreigners, said Australian workers tended to ‘bring a little bit more complication from outside of work.’
‘Foreign workers, they’re here on their own or with a very small family base,’ he said. ‘They seem more single-minded on their task, there’s not as much to distract them.’
The publican says the more menial the role the less likely he is to receive Australian applicants and those he hires don’t last long.
‘I tend to turn over more Australian staff when it comes to more basic roles,’ he said.
Foreign workers, in his experience, did not call in sick after a night on the drink or because they fancied a day at the beach.
The meat processing industry relies heavily on foreign workers because Australians won’t do it
The restaurant industry can demand working long hours in hot conditions (stock image)
‘In 20 years of doing this I can’t think of a time I’ve been let down by foreign employees,’ he said.
‘With Australian workers you get a lot more nuisance excuses.
‘If I could sum it up, it’s generally a pleasant experience employing foreign workers because they really appreciate their role no matter how small it is.
‘Because they love living in Australia. They just love living here and they work extremely hard.’
Restaurant & Catering Industry Association research on the positions that cafés and restaurants reported hardest to fill indicated that 40.4 per cent of businesses found it ‘very difficult’ to recruit for the position of chef.
It was also ‘very difficult’ for 33.9 per cent of businesses to recruit for the position of café and restaurant manager.
Many Australian cafes and restaurants report it is ‘very difficult’ to recruit chefs and managers
One traffic control firm employed 85 Irish women in its 100-strong workforce (stock image)
Sydney master baker Andreas Rost said he had advertised a job last year and there was not a single Australian applicant for the position.
‘At the moment I’m trying to recruit people and it’s almost impossible,’ Mr Rost said. ‘It’s really, really hard to recruit staff.’
For those who were not pursuing a passion, baking just seemed too hard.
‘I think for Australians, if you can find an easier job, you’ll find an easier job,’ Mr Rost said.
Even when Mr Rost has hired Australian workers, they did not last long in the job.
‘I find a lot of local staff if they stay six or nine months, that’s all you get.’
Many prospective employees were not keen on bakers’ hours, which often meant starting at 1am.
‘Hard work is hard work,’ Mr Rost said. ‘That’s all it comes down to.’
Master baker Andreas Rost finds it almost impossible to hire Australian staff (stock image)
The Australian Hairdressing Council says the industry finds it ‘almost impossible’ to hire staff
Then deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said Australians don’t want to ‘bone out skulls’
Sandy Chong, chief executive officer of the Australian Hairdressing Council, said the current visa system was not allowing salons to fill the jobs local workers would not.
‘All salons looking for staff find it almost impossible to find a qualified and capable employee,’ Ms Chong said. ‘We are not listed under skills shortage and we need to be.’
Traffic management firm Australian Retro owner Peter Karlsson told Fairfax Media five years ago that of almost 100 traffic controllers employed by his company, 85 per cent were Irish women.
‘They are reliable and are willing to work hard and on Sundays,’ Mr Karlsson said back then.
A spokesman for the company, now called Retro Traffic, said he did not wish to add to those comments.
Fruit and vegetable growers rely on an army of foreign visa holders to harvest their crops
The job advertisement for a dairy hand which received no applications from local job seekers
Sourcing labour is always a challenge for Australian fruit and vegetable growers (stock image)
Last year the then deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, said there were still jobs Australians simply did not want to do, ‘whether it is packing offal in an abattoir or boning out skulls.’
Earlier this month a farming couple in Far North Queensland was finding it impossible to hire a dairy hand, despite the job paying $50,000 a year with free accommodation.
Malcolm and Jane McGregor placed an advertisement on Seek looking for a senior dairy farm hand at their property in Malanda, about 90 minutes drive from Cairns.
The couple initially received plenty of interest – from the Philippines, the Middle East and India – but no applicants from Cairns or other parts of Australia.
Cairns has an unemployment rate of 6 per cent which soars to 14.5 per cent for youth.
Queensland farmers Malcolm and Jane McGregor could not find a senior hand for their dairy
Cairns has an unemployment rate of 6 per cent and youth unemployment rate of 14.5 per cent
Local MP Warren Entsch told Daily Mail Australia at the time backpackers would have filled this job a long time ago.
Mr Entsch even claimed he knew someone who rejected the job because he would be paid only $200 more than he was being paid on the dole.
‘It’s all very well for Australians to complain, but the reality is, Australian’s have got to do the work,’ he said.
‘Social security is not meant to be life support.’
Mr Entsch said he started off cleaning toilets in a railway station.
‘It may not be the job you want but you’ve got to start somewhere,’ he said.
The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced last year the 457 visa for foreign workers would be scrapped and replaced with a new Temporary Skill Shortage visa.
The McGregors eventually filled the job after their plight received widespread publicity.
Receiving unemployment benefits can be more attractive to Australians than a hard day’s work