Tamworth labour shortages have retail and hospitality staff bearing the brunt

Workers and employers on Tamworth's Peel Street weighed in on why positions remain unfilled.

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Andrew Kellet started work at The Tudor four months after being made redundant at a pub in Willow Tree during COVID's initial wave.

He said The Tudor has been facing staffing issues for a long time, and the reason behind it is that people are choosing not to work.

"There's some that just don't want to work and it sucks because it makes my job harder," he said.

"It makes other managers' job harder and it makes everyone else work harder and that's not fair."

The COVID isolation period is reducing from seven to five days on September 9.

Bartender at The Tudor Tempany Boland, said there was a stage where three staff members had COVID at once and had to isolate.

Ms Boland said in that situation, the reduction in isolation days could help.

Emma Carlow started work at Sportsgirl in March.

She got the job straight away due to the store being short staffed.

"Since then, we've had people drop out, people not wanting to work," she said.

Ms Carlow is working two jobs, including as a bartender at the West Bowlo.

Her hours at the pub were cut when COVID decimated the flow of customers.

"My hours went from 30+ hours a week, to 15," she said.

"I've lost half my hours."

She said a two day reduction in the isolation period won't make much of a difference.

She said she believes people are getting income support too easily.

"I think some people do need money, but I think some people abuse it," she said.

"I think some people say they need it, but they don't, they're just lazy."

Emily Roy from JobLink Plus said it's not as easy as it might seem to receive income support, such as JobSeeker.

There are a lot of requirements people must meet in order to get it, she said.

She said the minimum wage is intentionally higher than the income support payment to provide incentive to work.

Reasons that people aren't working include housing and food insecurity, mental health challenges and childcare, she said.

"When we're looking at what incentivises people to get back to work, we have to look at a range of issues and look at what's happening socially and in our communities," she said.

"Not just think that it's about the individual choice that a person makes."

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