Local bakeries face demise as they struggle to attract qualified staff, apprentices - ABC News

Mitchel Talbot sells nostalgia.  

The traditional favourites — vanilla, coconut jam and apple slices along with freshly baked bread — don't last long as the steady stream of customers drops by his small bakery at Emu Park on the central Queensland coast.

"There's something magical about it," Mr Talbot said.

But the magic of the local bakery, once a street corner staple in almost every suburb of most towns, is wearing off, and Mr Talbot's bakery is one of only a few family-owned bakeries left in Emu Park.

He is struggling to find the "right" assistant to help him since buying the bakery earlier this year.

"It's not a dying art … I'd say it's more a lost art," he said.

"People just don't want the job."

Mitchel Talbot says supermarkets and large franchises haven't put a dent on his bakery.(ABC Capricornia: Inga Stünzner)

It's a gruelling job: unsociable hours, a midnight start, and no air-conditioning for bread-making, not to mention the hot ovens. 

Add to this the temperatures of a central Queensland summer, where the mercury can rise to 40 degrees for days at a time.

None of this deters Mr Talbot, who has had flour running through his veins since he was a boy helping his parents run their bakery.

"I absolutely love those hours. I've done nine-to-five jobs, or just a day shift at bakeries and I didn't like it all," he said.

"It's something about midnight because you can just come in and do what you want. You get used to it."

Wage woes deter trainees 

The pay is also an issue. 

When Mr Talbot completed his baker's apprenticeship in the mid-2000s, he was earning decent money compared with other trades.

"Then the mining boom came, and everyone was jumping ahead of me," he said.

"You can still pay your bills with your wage as a baker, but it's not as attractive anymore like when my dad was training and becoming qualified."

Figures from the government agency Job Outlook show full-time workers on an adult wage earn about $996 a week, compared with an average of $1,460 in other trades.

It's a predicament facing the industry across Australia.

Bakeries across Australia are struggling to find qualified staff, and some businesses have had to close.(ABC: Bec Whetham)

The Baking Association of Australia's executive officer, Tony Smith, said most bakeries were ticking along nicely, but attracting apprentices was the biggest concern.

A lack of available workers saw a member from Tasmania close their doors this week. 

"They just couldn't get help anymore. They've said, 'We just can't do this anymore'. It's a sad thing to hear," he said.

Mr Smith pointed to a much bigger problem. 

"The education system has been geared to send youth on to year 11 and 12 and then hopefully on to university to become an accountant or a lawyer," he said.

"There's nothing wrong with doing that, but not everyone can do that — there are a lot of people out there quite skilled with their hands."

Winding back the clock

Mr Smith said some states, including South Australia and Victoria, were winding the clock back, and offering trade pathways to students from year 10. 

The association ran a pilot program in regional Victoria, where a local bakery ran a workshop at school, and then invited interested students into the bakery for work experience.

"We had 31 students turn up for an afternoon. Out of those, 17 took up work experience at different bakeries in their region, and we picked up about six or seven apprenticeships out of that," Mr Smith said.

Unless the education system changes and encourages apprenticeships, more bakeries could close, according to the Baking Association of Australia.(ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler)

"Sure, it's not massive, but it starts to engage them at a year 10 level." 

Mr Smith said he would like to see state governments give direction to schools to allow trade industries better access without the need to go "around door-knocking on individual schools". 

"It's very hard to just turn up at the school and say, 'Hi, we'd like to come and talk to your students'," he said.

In Queensland, the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training now funds three certificate courses in the baking trade through its Free Apprenticeships for under 25s programs.

A spokesperson from the Department of Education said that in 2020, Queensland had the highest number of school-based apprentices and trainees in Australia with 50.5 per cent, or just over 9,000, of the national total of 17,830.

The spokesperson said schools held career and trade days, and engaged in work experience programs, but principals made the decision about these offerings in consultation with school communities. 

Local customers are keeping small family-owned bakeries in business.(Unsplash: Taylor Grote)

Loyal customers keep life sweet

Mr Talbot is happy consumers still have a taste for the small bakery.

"If you're putting out a good product and treating your customers well and listening to what they want, and you get good staff, you can make it," he said.

But there is the sticking point — finding the right person.

Mr Talbot is still searching.

"I can teach you to be good, or I can teach you to be great — there's a difference," he promised.

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Local bakeries face demise as they struggle to attract qualified staff, apprentices - ABC News
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