A free week-long Hospitality Jobs Training course teaching the basics of hospitality at businesses across Barossa, resulted in half of the participants landing a job.

The Barossa region is famous for its food and wine and is home to many hospitality venues. Following the reopening of venues after COVID-19, it became clear a significant number of hospitality workers had permanently left the industry. As a result, local venues were struggling to find willing workers to train and fill roles, preventing many venues from trading at full capacity.

RDA Barossa Gawler Light Adelaide Plains (RDA Barossa) identified there was a significant cohort of mature age workers who could potentially fill casual vacancies. The RDA and local venue operators believed if these potential workers received some minimal training, their life skills and experience could prove valuable to employers.

Partnering with the Adelaide Institute of Hospitality and local venues, RDA Barossa was able to design a fast-paced immersive training course on hospitality basics. School leavers, long term unemployed and mature aged ‘career changers’ were invited to apply.

Mark McNamara, Food Projects and Workforce Lead at Regional Development Australia Barossa Gawler Light Adelaide Plains, was the leader of the course.

‘We’ve got a critical workforce shortage in our region and it’s hitting the hospitality industry particularly hard,’ said Mark.

‘While accredited courses have their place, they can take a long time. This course gives students the opportunity to build confidence, learn new skills and meet employers, while giving businesses the workers they need – fast!’

The modules covered kitchen and front of house operations, barista training, local food, wine, tourism, and hygiene and food handling. At the end of the week, students completed their Responsible Service of Alcohol accreditation at Barossa Regional University Campus and were then introduced to potential employers.

The first cohort was 13 people, which included 7 of mature age and 6 under the age of 17. All 13 completed the training. Post course follow-up confirmed all the mature age students obtained or were waiting to commence employment.

One mature age participant also signed up to complete further study – a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery with TAFE SA. The junior participants all reported interest in joining the industry once they completed their schooling.

‘I feel like the whole world is open to me now,’ said Deb Cook from Kapunda, who is now employed at Novotel Barossa Valley Resort as a service professional.

‘I’m an older person and I was pleasantly surprised by how diverse the students were. It doesn’t matter if you’re old, young, shy or outgoing. This course has something for everyone. You can take these skills with you anywhere!’

Watch:  https://youtu.be/vrfvF628_00?si=bX5GobeDsEjgQHem

Learn more:

• Free hospitality training – learn the basics in a week
• RDA Barossa Gawler Light Adelaide Plains