Hospitality Temp Staffing for Summer: Staying Ahead of Demand Without Burn Out
Summer demand is predictable, staffing pressure doesn’t have to be
Summer in Australia and New Zealand is a reliable story: more people travelling, more events on, and more venues operating at (or near) full capacity. The revenue upside is huge. The staffing challenge is, too.
And it’s not just seasonal. The hospitality labour market remains structurally tight with Jobs and Skills Australia projecting the sector will need an additional 21,400 hospitality workers by 2028 to meet ongoing shortages in roles like waiters, baristas, and bar attendants.
In New Zealand, industry leaders continue to describe hospitality shortages as persistent enough to warrant policy change, including calls for visa settings that better support peak-season staffing.
That backdrop is why more operators are shifting from reactive hiring to hospitality temp staffing as a deliberate operating model. When you build a flexible workforce layer early, you’re not scrambling — you’re scaling. This is exactly the kind of challenge Sidekicker’s hospitality staffing model is built for — more detail here.
Why hospitality temp staffing is the smarter peak-season strategy
- It gives you agility when demand changes overnight
Summer trade is rarely steady. A normal midweek service can be followed by a weekend spike driven by a festival or sudden run of warm weather. Hospitality temp staffing lets you scale up quickly for high-volume days, then scale down without carrying excess labour costs through quieter shifts.
This agility matters most in roles that bottleneck first, like bar support, runners, and floor staff during large sittings. When those positions are covered, everything else in service runs smoother.
- It protects retention by reducing burnout
Hospitality shortages aren’t only about recruiting; they’re also about holding onto good people. Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2024 analysis shows a “retention gap” is a key driver of ongoing shortages — meaning the industry loses skilled workers faster than it can replace them.
Temp staff reduce pressure during peak stretches so permanent teams aren’t forced into unsustainable rosters. The long-term upside is simple: when your best people feel supported at the hardest time of year, they’re more likely to stay.
- It keeps guest experience consistent when the venue is full
When you’re understaffed, the first thing guests notice is friction: longer waits, rushed interactions, missed orders. It’s not that your team isn’t capable, it’s that they’re stretched too thin to deliver hospitality, not just service.
A strong hospitality temp staffing plan allows you to roster extra hands into guest-impact zones so standards don’t slide when demand is highest. In practice, that means smoother sittings, faster turns, and fewer service failures that show up later in online reviews.
- It makes event-driven peaks easier to say “yes” to
Summer is stacked with event demand across both countries — weddings, corporate functions, stadium crowds, festivals, and citywide celebrations. Some events push demand sharply above baseline. CBRE analysis of Australia’s major 2023–24 events found hotel demand surges were large enough to drive up to a 129% lift in average daily rate during key events.
Even if your venue isn’t a hotel, the downstream effect is obvious: more visitor and higher spend. Temp staffing gives you the confidence to accept those peaks without gambling your standards or exhausting your core team.
Practical tips to make hospitality temp staffing work
- Forecast your “hot weeks” early
Start from last summer’s data. Identify weekends or weeks that spiked due to holidays, school breaks, or annual events. Early planning turns peak season from reactive to controlled — and makes rostering decisions far easier under pressure. - Hire for flexibility, not just availability
Multi-skilled staff who can move between bar, floor, and events let you adjust on the fly when demand shifts mid-service. Flexibility is what stops one busy area from derailing the entire venue. - Onboard quickly but properly
Short, structured onboarding on POS systems, menus, venue layout, and service expectations pays off instantly. Temp staff who understand how you run become operational support, not extra supervision. - Use vetted talent sources
The biggest risk in temp hiring is quality uncertainty. A vetted platform removes that guesswork by giving you access to workers with proven track records and verified experience.
Why Sidekicker?
A strong hospitality temp staffing plan only works if you can access reliable people quickly without spending hours screening, chasing availability, or taking risks on unknown hires.
Sidekicker is designed to make that easier. The platform connects hospitality businesses across Australia and New Zealand with vetted temp staff who are rated by previous employers. That means when demand spikes, you can scale your team with more confidence — and with less admin — while keeping service standards consistent.
If you want a real example of how this plays out during peak periods, the Hotel Rottnest case study is a useful snapshot of flexible staffing in action.
If you’re planning for a busy summer, building a flexible temp staffing plan now can save a lot of stress later. Sidekicker helps hospitality teams find vetted staff quickly, so you can scale up when demand spikes.
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