The City of Melbourne is asking for the introduction of another round of federal government support to help struggling businesses and to offer incentives to boost sales. This follows the release of a recently published survey by the Melbourne City Council outlined that three in four businesses are struggling to survive the current Omicron outbreak.
The results from the survey found that 74 percent of Melbourne business owners are barely surviving or are under intense distress. Furthermore, 53 percent of business owners said that they aren’t confident they can remain open for more than three months.
The Melbourne City Council met on Tuesday 2nd February to consider lobbying the state and federal governments to implement measures that will mitigate the impacts of Omicron on businesses, including:
- a third serving of the successful Melbourne Money scheme, which has injected $60 million into city cafes, bars and restaurants
- an additional round of hotel vouchers to support stays in the CBD
- free public transport for major events such as Moomba, which will return to the city in March
- the removal of the work-from-home advice, and a return of public servants to the CBD, as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp says the survey indicates business confidence is declining, particularly among Melbourne’s retail and hospitality sectors.
“We know Melbourne’s business owners are incredibly resilient, but the Omicron outbreak is having a significant impact as people isolate or understandably take it upon themselves to limit their movements. It’s clear the economic impacts of the Omicron variant are similar to those felt during lockdowns. However, our business owners aren’t currently receiving financial support,” says Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp.
“Through speaking with traders and seeing the raw data, we know our Melbourne Money schemes have been incredibly successful in bringing people back to the city and back into businesses after lockdowns. We want to replicate that success with a third serving,” continued Sally Capp.
The first round of the Melbourne money scheme was introduced in May 2021, and provided diners with the opportunity to claim 20 percent off their bill when spending $50 or more at all restaurants, cafes and bars across Melbourne’s CBD.
A second round was initiated in November 2021, with the rebate boosted to 30 percent if diners came in to spend between Monday and Thursday.
“We need the state and federal governments to urgently introduce initiatives and commit to ensure Melbourne businesses can weather the impacts of COVID-19, as we live with the virus in our community,” contends Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp.
Victorian Government Joins Forces with Supermarkets to Tackle Workforce Shortages
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that the Victorian Government will be joining forcing with leading supermarket chains to fill workforce shortages by linking thousands of Victorian based jobseekers with food retailers.
After announcing the campaign earlier this month, Jobs Victoria can reveal that they have already received more than 2,000 Victorian jobseekers expressing their interest in working at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and wholesaler Metcash as an outflux of COVID-positive employees leave retailers understaffed.
Roles that are currently being advertised include pick-packers to assemble online orders, night-fillers to restock shelves, cashiers, delivery drivers and forklift operators.
“We’ve had some 2,000 people register their interest to work in our supermarket system and that’s critically important given that there are hundreds, indeed, thousands of staff – whether it be at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, or wholesaler Metcash – who have not been able to report for duty. That’s behind the scenes – the government working with our supermarkets to give people who are out of work, the skills and support they need to do the job that we need them to do,” says Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.