Co-owner of the Emporium Food Co in Berry, Carolyn Katon, said she has had positions advertised since November and has struggled to fill them.

"My husband's not getting any apprentice chefs or mature chefs," she said. "We're putting in so many hours because of the shortages."

"We've done paid advertisements, gone to the uni, we're just not getting anyone."

Carolyn fears the shortages will cause the cafe's opening hours to reduce.

"We're just going to have to close on Tuesday," she said. "You can't do the service that you're wanting for your clients and to deliver without the staff."

"We're open for dining Friday, Saturday, Sunday night, but we don't have the support to do all the prep.

"I feel anxious every day."

Carolyn said the café is open Christmas Day lunch and will have to make it work.

"We've taken bookings...we can't let people down," she said.

Carolyn isn't alone.

The owner of Salty Joe's in Huskisson, John Bunter, said he has also advertised for skilled chefs and head baristas for months, with little response.

Being in the industry for over 20 years, he said chef shortages have always been a looming issue, but this is the worst he has seen it.

"Between chefs and barista jobs, we've put up multiple ads over the last few months," he said.

"We've had maybe two people respond across six to eight of those jobs."

John added he has enough staff for the meantime, but hours have extended at the café as other businesses in the area have had to shut their doors due to shortages.

"We've kind of got enough staff to get through," he said. "But now we're just hanging on because other places are closed or have had to reduce their hours."

There are currently 255 hospitality and tourism jobs in the Illawarra and South Coast advertised on Seek.com.

Carolyn and John believe the cause of the issue is multipronged.

They said it could be the high rental prices in the South Coast, meaning people have no where to live if the wish to move for work, or people are entering blank applications to meet the quota for government payments, or that during the pandemic, people left the industry to find work elsewhere.

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