MORE than 40 jobs are up for grabs in Winchester city centre as businesses have been left struggling from a lack of staff.
Numerous shops and restaurants in the city centre currently have “staff wanted” signs plastered in their windows, with business owners saying it is in response to desperation surrounding labour shortages in the area.
During a short walk along the High Street and adjacent roads, it is impossible not to notice the staggering number of shops, cafes and pubs looking for workers.
Business owners say the vacuum has been created by the rise of flexible remote working, the pandemic causing an over qualified workforce and distaste for a five day work week.
With many shops operating on reduced hours and, in the most extreme cases, considering closure, employers in Winchester say they are crumbling under the pressure to fill staff positions.
Phil Baldock, regional operations manager at the shop and café, Chococo, said: “No one wants full time work anymore. People only want to work three or four days a week.
“Our industry has also lost out a lot due to Covid. A lot of places have had to resort to reduced days because we just can’t fill staff positions.
“We still have students asking for part time work but people don’t see this job as a career anymore. Especially with the lockdowns, people had time to get online qualifications and get out of this industry.”
He called for a different way of working to help the situation.
He said: “We need a different plan of action. Things like hiring five people part-time to do the job of two full-time employees should hopefully keep businesses like ours going.
“Lots of places are running on survival mode.”
It’s not just cafés that are struggling to find reliable full time workers.
Signs are up in a whole range of retail windows.
However, some shops are hopeful for full recovery post Covid without the need for new employment tactics.
Wendy Ward, floor manager at fabric and craft shop, Closs & Hamblin, said: “We’ve been trying to recruit for over a year. There’s been some success over the past six weeks.
“People were happy during Covid to sit at home but now that’s mostly over we should have some new people potentially starting.”
Job available:
1. 21 Sushi, 21 Bridge St, full-time kitchen staff and waiter/waitress
2. Accessorize, 25/26 High St, store supervisor
3. Alfies, 157 High St, part time weekend evening bar staff
4. Bella Ling, 11-13 Upper Brook St, social media and sales assistant
5. Bond’s barbers, 37 Jewry St, full time apprentice and full time barber
6. Boots, 35-39 High St, benefit counter manager and Clinique manager
7. Cabinet rooms, 2, De Lunn Buildings, Jewry St, flexible hours chef, part or full-time bar manager, part-time weekend barista and part-time weekend kitchen porter
8. Carl Scarpa, 115 High St, part-time sales assistant
9. CEX, 149 High St, full-time sales assistant
10. Chococo, 152 High St, full and part time sales assistant
11. Closs & Hamblin, 8 High St, part and full time sales advisor
12. Connells, 82 High St, part-time branch administrator
13. Cook, 71 St George’s St, full and part-time delivery drivers
14. Coral, 160 High St, full-time retail customer service
15. Crown and Anchor, 168 High St, bar staff
16. Côte, 73 High St, full-time front and back of house team members
17. DimT, 8-9 Jewry St, full-time chef
18. Greggs, 16 High St, part and full-time team members
19. Hobbs, 129 High St, part-time style advisor
20. McDonald’s, 69 St George’s St, part-time and full-time team members
21. No. 1 currency, 34 Jewry St, part-time weekend sales advisor
22. Open house deli, 4a Middle Brook St, full-time front of house manager
23. Phase Eight, 111-112 High St, full-time sales advisor and full-time style advisor
24. Pret A Manger, 25 High St, part and full-time team members
25. Reeve The Baker, 41 High St, full-time sales assistant
26. Russell and Bromley, 102 High St, part-time sales assistants
27. Santander, 119 High St, full-time team members
28. Shuropody, 21 High St, Saturday team members
29. Specsavers, 106a High St, full-time optical assistant
30. Subway, 165 High St, part and full-time team members
31. Superdrug, 130-133 High St, part and full-time team members
32. Taste of Gurkhas, 3 Eastgate St, Tuesday-Saturday kitchen porter
33. The Black Bottle, 4 Bridge St, weekend and weekday evening shifts
34. The Queen Inn, 28 Kingsgate Rd, chef and kitchen positions
35. Trailfinders, 123-124 High St, full-time team members
36. Travel Bag, 23-24 High St, travel specialists
37. Vodafone, 125 High St, part and full-time team members
38. Waterstones, 97 High St, part time bookseller
39. WH Smith, 110 Parchment St, part-time post office position
40. White Company, 30 High St, supervisor
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