Chloe King: "We are overwhelmingly offered minimum wage or a couple of bucks above it. It's rare to get a living wage."

Auckland woman Chloe King is not surprised to hear that hospitality is one of the industries in which New Zealand employers are struggling to find staff.

The Ministry of Social Development this week declared a regional labour shortage, after just 14 people expressed interest in 350 vacancies for fruit pickers in Hawke's Bay.

But horticulture is not the only industry that is suffering – New Zealand has had significant growth in the past 20 years in short-term low-paid employment in the service sector and there is a lack of local workers to fill the roles.

New Zealand's unemployment rate is at 4.5 per cent, the lowest since the end of 2008. Employers in a wide range of industries are struggling to find enough staff.

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One of the key areas where businesses have had to look to migrants to fill roles is hospitality.

King has spent the past 12 years working in a range of hospitality roles, in kitchens, washing dishes, plating food and manning high-end cocktail bars.

She says there are a number of reasons why the roles aren't appealing to local workers. Sexual harassment is a big problem. "Assault on shift is really common."

She pointed to an Australian survey that showed 89 per cent of hospitality worker respondents had suffered sexual harassment on shift. "I would expect it would be the same here."

King said the hospitality workforce had become increasingly casualised and it was hard for staff to get enough work. Employers were still offering roles without any guarantee of a set number of hours.

"It's a really low-wage sector as well. We know living costs are spiralling out of control, there's no rent control in New Zealand and we are overwhelmingly offered minimum wage or a couple of bucks above it. It's rare to get a living wage."

King said there had always been a large number of migrant workers in the hospitality sector in the time she had been working. A decade ago most were from England or Ireland but now more were coming from Asian countries. "They're still people from overseas, just coming from different places and they are often horribly exploited and paid below the minimum wage."

She said it was unfair to call hospitality staff unskilled or low-skilled. They were increasingly expected to have a range of skills, she said, including making barista coffee, waiting tables and providing excellent customer service. "Employers in hospitality expect staff to have all these skills but they're not going to pay for that or guarantee hours or treat you like a human being."

LEV DOLGACHOV/123RF Cleaning roles can mean long hours and low pay.

Another area where employers complain of a lack of local staff is cleaning.

Whangarei woman Tara, who did not want her last name used, took a new job cleaning last year after time out of the workforce with her children.

"I figured after cleaning after five kids for the past 11 years I would be quite good at it. I heard of some cleaning vacancies so I applied. Without hesitation I got called for an interview. There were a few of us at the interview and I thought 'oh I won't get it having not worked in so long'. Well, we all got told there and then when could be all start. To this day they are still struggling to get new workers and even more to get the newbies to stay."

She said the cleaning standards were high and not all the workers could handle the workload or the hours. She worked with a lot of recent migrants and started on $16.11 an hour.

"Since working there from last year I have decreased my hours and with another company found hours that accommodate my family and that's what is most important. I find cleaning to be a good job and something I'm good at. Compared to other jobs I find it quite a lonely job if you're not in with the crowd. But I just do what I'm there for then hurry home to my family."