‘All from India, Pakistan’: Sydney Butcher Gets 140 Job Applications, No Aussies

 A Sydney butcher is struggling to fill a job paying up to AUD $130,000 (approximately ₹73 lakh) per year, citing a growing national shortage of qualified tradespeople. Despite offering a highly competitive salary, Clayton Wright, owner of Alexandria’s Clover Valley Meat Company and Wrights The Butchers, says he has not received a single application from an Australian.

Clayton Wright                              Credit : Australia Today

According to a report by news.com.au, Wright has received more than 140 applications for the role, but all of them have come from overseas.

“It’s not a matter of money,” said Wright, 66. “We have [had a decades-long] drain on people that have not picked up the trade, this is what we’re suffering now.”

Wright says the situation is becoming dire, warning it signals a “perfect storm for businesses” already grappling with rising wages and cost-of-living pressures.

Paying Top Dollar, But No Suitable Candidates

Despite spending AUD $1,100 each month advertising the vacancy on the popular job-search website Seek, Wright says he’s yet to find a suitable candidate.

“We’ve had 140 applications and not one was from Australia,” he said. “They were from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South America.”

Wright said many of the applicants are looking for a way to enter Australia, but few have the required experience or language skills.

“Some can barely communicate in English, others have no experience in the butchering industry,” he said. Aside from a few with experience in halal slaughter, “most were battling to speak English” and “had virtually no qualifications at all.”

“They all want a sponsorship,” he added. “This happened years ago in the chef industry, where chef was an easy entry into Australia so all these people came and did a chef’s course. The problem is that you have no butchers, so if you bring people in from overseas you have no one to train them.”

Industry-Wide Concern

Wright’s challenges reflect a broader issue facing many Australian businesses. Daniel Hunter, Chief Executive of Business NSW, says the skills shortage is impacting employers across the state.

“We are hearing from business owners across the state who are advertising the same job two, three, even five times and still coming up empty,” Hunter said.

As the demand for skilled tradespeople continues to grow, business owners like Wright are left with few options — and little time — to find the qualified workers they need.