Griffith's hospitality industry is feeling the pinch with few reliable workers as Christmas approaches

It's hard to walk past a cafe in Griffith at the moment without seeing a help wanted sign, but incoming applications just aren't filling the gaps, which is becoming a problem as the busiest month approaches.

December is usually one of the busiest months for cafes and restaurants as families unite and celebrate by going out for lunch or dinner together.

Molly Jackson, a server at Cocoa and Bean cafe, said that all the current staff were putting in overtime just to keep up with the demand.

"It is very urgent. Not quite desperate times but there's only so many hours people can work," she said.

"We'd need two or three extras to get back to normal. We're getting a few applications, just not as many as we'd like ... You want the right people as well."

She speculated that they might not be receiving applications as young people look to other opportunities and career pathways.

"Maybe more people just aren't into hospitality ... When you're in hospitality, you can only go so far unless you really want to commit to owning your own [cafe.] ... You've gotta be the right person for it as well, you have to be good with customers, good under pressure, very reliable."

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Alfina Bianchini, the owner of Sugarmill Cafe, said that even when they found people, reliability and entitlement was an issue.

"Life is very easy for people to stay home ... There's no morals. When you do find people, it's like the employer works for the employee," she said.

"They come in like they're doing us a favour ... When I was working, I'd do everything for my boss, I'd always be staying back. Today, they've always got their phones out."

She added that they couldn't afford to increase pay in order to entice more staff, and with quiet periods, they couldn't afford to put someone on fulltime.

"We can't pay a lot of money, we pay that normal level. That's where the government should step in - if they're paying people to stay home, they can help us pay more and they can work."

Ms Bianchini was full of praise for her current staff, but said that with young staff often going onto university or other opportunities, it was a cycle of trying to hire more.

"It's not just in hospitality either. We're struggling but even mechanics, my son works as a panel beater. Not many people are doing apprenticeships there. I don't know what it is," she said.

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