Hospitality jobs on the menu for long-term unemployed

Posted on 19 Jun 2025

By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia

A new partnership aims to give young refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who are trying to forge a new life in Australia a leg-up in the hospitality industry.

Restaurant booking platform OpenTable has announced a partnership with Melbourne-based social enterprise Scarf designed to help young people overcome barriers to employment.

Scarf provides hands-on training, mentoring and paid work experience for young people facing difficulty finding a job.

The organisation helps young people gain real-world experience working at dinners and events, allowing them to build confidence, skills and potential employment networks.

Much of Scarf's trainee base consists of young people seeking asylum, and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds who are experiencing long-term unemployment.

Under the new partnership, OpenTable will:

provide critical support to Scarf by covering trainee wages during upcoming seasonal pop-up events

deliver dedicated training sessions about its restaurant booking technology, aimed at helping equip trainees with the skills needed to navigate front-of-house service in a restaurant setting, enhancing their employment readiness and career prospects

facilitate job interview training sessions, designed to help participants build confidence and prepare for future employment opportunities.

“We’re so excited to be working with OpenTable, which will allow our trainees to get the best possible training and work experience opportunities as they prepare to transition into ongoing hospitality jobs.”

Scarf co-founder and CEO Hannah Brennan.

OpenTable's senior director of sales and services for Australia and New Zealand, Drew Bowering, said the collaboration would help to increase visibility for Scarf’s pop-up dinners.

It would also give diners a unique opportunity to experience the Scarf program in action and watch trainees gain real world hospitality experience first-hand.

“We are proud to be partnering with the Scarf team to support the next generation of hospitality professionals and help create a more inclusive industry,” said Bowering.

Scarf co-founder and CEO Hannah Brennan said partnerships had always been integral to the not-for-profit's approach to pursuing its purpose.

“We’re so excited to be working with OpenTable, which will allow our trainees to get the best possible training and work experience opportunities as they prepare to transition into ongoing hospitality jobs,” she said.

Established in 2010, Scarf is on track to have trained more than 400 hospitality graduates by the end of this year.