MCG staffing issues in hospitality

[Tigers of Old]

Massive queues last night at the G due to severe staff shortages in hospitality.
One thing to get people back to the footy but there are big problems that need to be addressed for the larger blockbuster games.
No point being there if you have to wait in a queue for 30 minutes to get a pie & beer. Some people may opt to bring their own food but it won't work for all.
How will the AFL & MCG address this crisis?

 

[DavidSSS]

Yep, away game last night so I paid for entry (maybe should have just gone for general admission which costs me nothing). People will stop going if this continues. You just want to get something to eat and maybe a beer and you have to give up watching the game for a quarter to do so.

Not good enough. The AFL wanted to see record crowds for this round, well it is not going to happen because word is getting around that going to the football and wanting to get a pie or a drink is an absolute mess. Congestion was massive because of the massive queues to food and drink outlets.

I was watching a couple of the guys making food last night and they were working so hard it wasn't funny. Just not enough outlets open.

You can't invite the crowds without making sure the facilties can cater for big numbers.

DS

 

[TigerForce]

Solution: BYO including beer in the eskies.

 

[mrposhman]

I entered the ground around 6.45 I think. Wandering around Level 1 and the queues were ridiculous. Went down to B1 and got my food nice and easy, but the queues were building up as I left. Went up to level 4 where my seats were and the queues for food were ludicrous. If you know around Q50-52, there is a bar there, the food was snaking practically from the food store to the bar. I was so relieved that I went down to B1, but I understand the queues in B1 built up quite quickly too, but certainly seemed to be worse on levels 1 and 4.

 

[DavidSSS]

I entered the ground around 6.45 I think. Wandering around Level 1 and the queues were ridiculous. Went down to B1 and got my food nice and easy, but the queues were building up as I left. Went up to level 4 where my seats were and the queues for food were ludicrous. If you know around Q50-52, there is a bar there, the food was snaking practically from the food store to the bar. I was so relieved that I went down to B1, but I understand the queues in B1 built up quite quickly too, but certainly seemed to be worse on levels 1 and 4.

I presume B1 is the basement behind the level 1 seats and Q50-52 looks to be Northern Stand. In the Ponsford Stand the food outlets under level 1 were simply closed.

Way too few outlets open for the size of the crowd.

DS

 

[mrposhman]

I presume B1 is the basement behind the level 1 seats and Q50-52 looks to be Northern Stand. In the Ponsford Stand the food outlets under level 1 were simply closed.

Way too few outlets open for the size of the crowd.

DS

Yeah I went into the basement behind the PRE. It did seem kind of quiet down there.

 

[DavidSSS]

Yeah I went into the basement behind the PRE. It did seem kind of quiet down there.

Maybe I should have walked half way around the ground, might have found the end of the queues.

DS

 

[AngryAnt]

Yep, and notice many of those security check people and those staffing the food outlets are Indian or other migrant workers. Aussies don't want to do this work, it's not paid well and you are dealing with the public. Covid turned the tap off on international students and migrants who are willing to do this work.

I tried to get a beer but gave up. At least I'm not getting fatter eating the shitty food on offer though.

 

[AngryAnt]

I think it is just a reflection of the same issue everyone is having. Everywhere I go I see businesses closed or reducing hours due to being short staffed and everyone seems to be advertising.

I suppose when you look at the figures there are 5 or 6% or so of Victorians not double vaxxed. Even if you only took half of them as being formerly in work then you have still injected a couple of percent into the unemployment rate, which is a big number for something that sits around 4%.

i read today that 4% unemployment is the lowest figure for around a decade.

 

[DavidSSS]

Yep, and notice many of those security check people and those staffing the food outlets are Indian or other migrant workers. Aussies don't want to do this work, it's not paid well and you are dealing with the public. Covid turned the tap off on international students and migrants who are willing to do this work.

I tried to get a beer but gave up. At least I'm not getting fatter eating the shitty food on offer though.

It is a travesty that we have jobs in this wealthy country which are paid so low that the only people who will do them are migrants and international students (who also should not be exploited with low wages). Plenty of agricultural jobs the same. People used to make decent money doing fruit picking. I remember working various jobs while at uni to get by and the wages weren't great but they weren't terrible. Low paid work these days is insecure and the wages too low.

The free market fundamentalists crap on about how when demand exceeds supply prices rise, well that isn't happening with these jobs, they just aren't employing people.

In any case, the hype around Round 1 was that the AFL wanted record crowds and people back at the football. Well that is not going to continue if they can't get the venues organised. You want crowds it is expected there be enough services to cater to the size of the crowd.

DS

 

[Born_a_Tiger78]

It is a travesty that we have jobs in this wealthy country which are paid so low that the only people who will do them are migrants and international students (who also should not be exploited with low wages). Plenty of agricultural jobs the same. People used to make decent money doing fruit picking. I remember working various jobs while at uni to get by and the wages weren't great but they weren't terrible. Low paid work these days is insecure and the wages too low.

The free market fundamentalists crap on about how when demand exceeds supply prices rise, well that isn't happening with these jobs, they just aren't employing people.

In any case, the hype around Round 1 was that the AFL wanted record crowds and people back at the football. Well that is not going to continue if they can't get the venues organised. You want crowds it is expected there be enough services to cater to the size of the crowd.

DS

I agree with your view, apart from the 2nd paragraph.

Disregarding the cash economy, it's not just about the low wages, it's also about short shifts, and the labour hire firms that make undue profits at the worker's cost.

Given the current labour shortage, why would anyone choose a 4 hour MCG shift over an 8 or 10 hour cafe shift? Surely the MCC should pay overs, or direct to casual employees, with the prices they charge for food & beveridge?

Anyway,

there's a nothing more lonesome, morbid or drear,
than watching Richmond lose, without any beer.

 

[RoarEmotion]

If you look at it from purely a business perspective - if food/drink takings were low due to understaffing then the maths would be whether paying everyone more and hopefully attracting more staffing means you sell more then that would be the logical outcomes.

Given 1 cup,of chips probably pays an hour of wages, the answer I would guess would be you could double the wages, sell more and make more profit on big crowd games without raising food/drink prices.

 

[Born_a_Tiger78]

I'm all for paying people more but punters already whinge about the cost of food and drink as it is.

How will everyone react if admission and other prices go up 15% to pay more wages?

Punters pay a fee for admission to watch the football, with the expectation that there is sufficient services to "enhance their match day experience".

The cost of food and drink is another issue.

I'd probably pay $11.50 for mid-strength beer assuming I could get the round without missing a quarter of the football that I've already paid a fee for.

Nobody, including you, would know everybody's reaction to a 15% increase in prices.

 

[MD Jazz]

Do anyone know what these catering staff are being paid? And what their conditions are?

 

[BT Tiger]

Do anyone know what these catering staff are being paid? And what their conditions are?

About $28/hour during the week and closer to $35/hour on the weekends, assuming they're working on a casual basis. They would have been paid about $40 per hour on Sundays but that was cut by the LNP to be the same as their Saturday rates. And that's coming from recent experience in the hospitality industry within the last 5 years.

 

[Born_a_Tiger78]

This is from The Age:

One of the issues for the AFL, according to league sources, is that there has been less certainty about when fans will arrive at the football, given that there is a smaller number of people coming from the central business district on weekdays, due to the aftermath of the pandemic.

What a load of crap.

The time people arrive at the ground isn't the issue. The issue is the time in the queue. I'm pretty sure that just before the game, 1/4 time, half time and 3/4 time are the busiest periods for food and drink, whether people arrive from the CBD, Melton, Pakenham or even Byron Bay.

It's been that way from at least the mid nineties when I started buy beer at the football.

The AFL & MCC did not staff the venue adequately. To try and blame the fans is quite pathetic really.

 

[DavidSSS]

This is from The Age:

One of the issues for the AFL, according to league sources, is that there has been less certainty about when fans will arrive at the football, given that there is a smaller number of people coming from the central business district on weekdays, due to the aftermath of the pandemic.

What a load of crap.

The time people arrive at the ground isn't the issue. The issue is the time in the queue. I'm pretty sure that just before the game, 1/4 time, half time and 3/4 time are the busiest periods for food and drink, whether people arrive from the CBD, Melton, Pakenham or even Byron Bay.

It's been that way from at least the mid nineties when I started buy beer at the football.

The AFL & MCC did not staff the venue adequately. To try and blame the fans is quite pathetic really.

It has always been the case, somewhat unsurprisingly, that the busiest time for food and drink is at the breaks, was the same in the 1970s. Geez they're full of sh*t.

DS

 

[Tigers of Old]

You can't invite the crowds without making sure the facilties can cater for big numbers.

Nailed it.
The AFL has some answering to do. They can't deliver on the product.

 

[Ian4]

when you're charging $10 for a watered down mid-strength beer, I think you’re gonna make more than enough to employ sufficient staff.

I’ve said this on the politics thread, but hospitality workers have been exploited for years. People are leaving the industry in droves because there is better paying work out there. So right now there is a correction going on in the industry. Its up to the employers to provide better incentives for staff. Better pay and secure work is a good start.

 

[MD Jazz]

when you're charging $10 for a watered down mid-strength beer, I think you’re gonna make more than enough to employ sufficient staff.

I’ve said this on the politics thread, but hospitality workers have been exploited for years. People are leaving the industry in droves because there is better paying work out there. So right now there is a correction going on in the industry. Its up to the employers to provide better incentives for staff. Better pay and secure work is a good start.

So operating a cash register or pouting beers should be earning you what at the footy Ian? $60/hour?

And should they be paid 8 hours despite not working it?

And how do you have full time staff when you can’t offer full time hours?

Some seriously deluded thinking on this.

If I was a young guy getting $40/hour for working 4-5 hours at the footy operating a cash register id be over the moon.

Can’t wait until foreign students and travelling workers are back and we get some competition for jobs. I bet every business in hospitality can’t wait either.