When now 32-year-old, Nabin KC arrived in Australia from Nepal a little over ten years ago. he was not thinking about the 5.7% Australian unemployment rate.

Whilst he had no money, Nabin didn’t arrive completely empty handed. He had made a commitment to himself to achieve success with the opportunity he had been given by his grandmother to secure a visa and make the trip to Australia.

“I knew that if I ever wanted to earn good money, I had to leave Nepal,” he says.

“I had no choice but to work hard.”

In the years that followed, that’s exactly what he did.

He also completed tertiary studies in both accounting and IT.

“I worked at least three jobs at once while I was studying,” Nabin says.

Nabin moved to Canberra from Sydney around five years ago and started knocking on employment doors again.

“I was rejected many times,” he says.

Yet within two years of his arrival, on 3 July 2023, Nabin purchased the popular café, Bittersweet in Kingston, where he had been working for less than a year.

He has also recently opened a second venue in Philip, The Pour House.

“It feels great to be the owner of a business,” says Nabin.

“I can see my ten years of hard work. It is definitely not easy…but I love it.”

Nabin is known in Kingston for the hugs and warm welcome he provides all his guests, and their dogs!

Despite his success, one of the challenges Nabin faces is finding and retaining staff.

A challenge more punctuated by the reality of the job and recruitment market in the ACT.

Just last week, recruitment agency HorizonOne released its 2026 State of the Canberra Recruitment Market, which reveals a rise in Canberra’s unemployment from 3.0% to 4.4% since late 2024. The steepest increase of any state or territory.

Andy Batstone, Director, Recruitment Operations at HorizonOne says that “Despite this, HorizonOne saw applications per role rise 12.6%, while shortlisted candidates fell 42.1%, showing the issue isn’t a lack of candidates but a lack of suitable ones.”

Hospitality is not a market that HorizonOne actively recruit in.

Yet the candidates don’t seem to be seeing the opportunities hidden in hospitality.

Why are fewer people being shortlisted for non-hospitality /trade related roles?

The State of the Canberra Recruitment Market report highlights the potential influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as one factor in the recruitment process

Copious AI-generated resumes are being submitted to multiple employers and optimised for success. These rise to the top regardless of the applicant’s suitability, which then requires that ‘employers sift through hundreds of applications to find the few best suited to the role.’

This does not equate to more shortlisted candidates.

Nabin and his peers in hospitality wish they had half of this problem.

Data from the most recent Jobs and Skills Australia’s Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) indicates that the Accommodation and Food Services industry maintains the highest recruitment rate of any sector nationally, sitting at 72%.

This confirms that while offices may be slowing down, restaurants, bars, and cafes are aggressively looking for workers.

And not finding them.

There are approximately 1000 ACT-based hospitality positions currently advertised on Jora.

Mr Batstone says that HorizonOne’s jobseeker survey data also found that “…pay, flexibility and job security are now the three biggest priorities for Canberra professionals.

“Hospitality has historically struggled to compete on all three, which likely compounds the attraction and retention problem,” he says.

However, is there a section of the candidate pool in Canberra who would benefit from adjusting their success strategy to emulate Nabin’s?

Where hard work, working as if ‘you own it’ and being committed to learning, excelling and accumulating skills can provide more opportunities and life satisfaction than one might realise?

At the very least, this is one area where AI is less of a threat, in both application success and the delivery of a hands-on service.

“If I can do it, coming from another country with hardly anything, and own two businesses at age 32, anyone can do it,” Nabin says.

“What I am looking for are people who are friendly, dedicated and prepared to work hard like it is their own business.”

“My former boss saw those things in me, and I believe that’s why I am in this position now.”

Mr Batstone agrees that pride in the trade is important.

“It echoes something we see across the market at the moment; genuine capability still gets recognised and rewarded,” he says.

Nabin’s last word?

 “No one is going to ring you up at home and offer you a job and free training,” he says.

“You’ve got to go out and get around. That’s what I did.”