Straight-talking boss explains why young Aussies don’t want to work as Anthony Albanese considers raising Centrelink payments AGAIN: ‘They’re paying you $450 to stay at home’
- Business owner Joe Galasso has been unable to find new staff
- 20 hours of minimum wage is just $20 more than JobSeeker
- Youngsters won’t work part-time for small amount as a result
- He now fears for the future of his business if JobSeeker rises
A business boss says work-shy youngsters would rather sit at home than find a job because 20 hours at minimum wage is only $20 more than what they get on JobSeeker each week.
LED Lighting Designs owner Joe Galasso has slammed moves to increase JobSeeker payments in the May Budget, saying it will make the already very difficult task of finding new staff almost impossible.
Government advisors have told Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers that the JobSeeker dole payment should rise ‘urgently’, with one committee member insisting it must go up by $25 to $73 a day.
Mr Galasso fears that will only lead to more people sitting at home rather than taking entry-level jobs.
Lighting shop owner Joe Galasso has slammed moves to increase JobSeeker payments in the May Budget, saying it’s already impossible for him to find new staff
‘It’s been absolutely terrible,’ he told Nine’s Today show on Wednesday. ‘It’s really, really hard to keep going and keep the business afloat.’
‘If I want someone to work here 20 hours a week, the award wage for retail is $23.50 an hour. Twenty hours is $470,’ he said.
‘And they’re paying them $450 to stay at home. I mean, what would you do? It just makes sense. You won’t go to work for $20, will you?’
Jobseeker currently pays single claimants without children $334.20 a week.
But Mr Galasso says he’s had to abandon on-site electrical work because he’s been unable to find anyone to man the store part-time at his Padstow shop in Sydney’s south-west.
The business boss says workshy youngsters would rather sit at home than find a job because 20 hours of minimum wage is only $20 more than they get on JobSeeker
‘Last year we couldn’t get any staff whatsoever coming out of Covid,’ he said. ‘I’ve had to knock back a lot of jobs and lose a lot of money because I just can’t get staff.
‘I couldn’t do Christmas lights because I couldn’t even get a young person to help us out for a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
‘We’ve advertised and I ask customers that come in, “Do you know anyone that’s looking for some part time work or school hours or some of the mothers out there?”
‘Just someone to come in here and help us out and just so I can get out to some of the jobs that keep the place going.
‘I don’t know what the future holds if I can’t go out there and get the jobs that I used to get.’
The struggling boss said he was also suffering soaring electricity costs and competition from online outlets – and could not get the staff to manage that element of the business either.
Joe Galasso fears his staffing nightmare will get even worse if the JobSeeker payments increase by the proposed $25 up to $73 a day
‘The internet’s hurting us really hard,’ he said. ‘We’re trying to compete with that, but without the staff to run it.
‘I’ve got an internet site but I just can’t get any staff to even put stuff online for me, which is a job in its own.’
Mr Galasso says other shop owners are facing the same crisis, with many on the verge of closing down as a result.
‘Probably half a dozen business owners have come in and all said the same thing,’ he added.
‘They’re going to shut their business because they can’t get workers. It’s just impossible to keep going. They can’t grow the business.
‘They’re working hard in the business but there’s no return there because they can’t grow the business back to start making money.’
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