A small business owner has claimed he would have to pay someone a bumper wage just to manage his café in a remote mining town.
Chris Bleach runs the popular C&Hai’s Café in the Western Australia mining town of Port Hedland – 1,600km north of Perth.
But the problem he and other business owners are facing is that there aren’t enough workers, and even fewer homes for them to live in.
Even on wages over a third higher than most living in Perth, those working in cafés or as a hairdresser can’t afford the rent in Port Hedland.
‘And it’s pretty tough finding people that want to come up here anyway obviously, because of the weather,’ Mr Bleach told news.com.au.
Port Hedland, which has a population of 15,000, is one of many regional cities and towns that is desperate for more people to fill chronic worker shortages.
Mr Bleach is now on a mission to find someone to manage his café.
‘Finding that kind of position is really hard because the biggest problem here is accommodation,’ he said.
C&Hai’s Café, in the Western Australia mining town Port Hedland, needs a manager
‘You’re going to be paying someone close to $100,000 (as a salary), and the only way to get a manager here is to offer accommodation, which means straight away you’re looking at $150,000 a year.’
Mr Bleach explained that companies in the Pilbara region have to basically provide accommodation in order for someone to relocate for the job.
Port Hedland’s Mayor Peter Carter said: ‘In Broome they were advertising for a barista for $100,000 a year. That’s why your coffee costs you $8’.
Despite the attractive $150,000 to move to Port Hedland, Aussies weren’t convinced.
‘$150k in Port Hedland is equivalent to $55k in Melbourne – you’d be struggling to make ends meet,’ one person said.
‘Renting in a shared house would probably set you back $1,000 a week.’
‘Never been unemployed, and if I were, I’d never move to a regional town. Maybe if I were 18 or 19,’ a second said.
The thriving iron ore sector has created a ‘two-speed economy’ for Port Hedland where different sectors experience significantly different growth rates.
Chris Bleach (pictured) runs the popular C&Hai’s Café in Port Hedland
For example, when the Covid pandemic first hit, most industries in Australia came to a grinding halt, but not the iron ore industry in the Pilbara.
Its success put pressure on other areas of the economy such as hospitality and retail.
Towns like Port Hedland and Karratha, 200km south, are facing severe housing shortages.
The housing crisis has been exacerbated by a $200million voluntary buyback of more than 400 homes in 2020 after concerns about health impacts of dust sweeping over the town’s West End.
‘Port Hedland has lost like half of its area because they decided people shouldn’t be living in the dust zone,’ Mr Bleach said.
‘It’s not as nice to live, there’s no sea breeze so it’s five degrees hotter.’
