Professional associations estimate that caterers and hoteliers are missing more than 65,000 workers.

Many restaurants and cafés in Germany are shortening their working hours or closing their doors, and the reason is simple: a labor shortage, writes Deutsche Welle. Professional associations estimate that caterers and hoteliers are missing more than 65,000 workers.

– The labor shortage is at the top of the list of concerns for hoteliers and caterers, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) announced. Currently, 33,160 jobs in hospitality and the hotel industry are open at employment offices across Germany. But Dehoga assumes the figure is twice as high.

– Many restaurants and hotels no longer even report to employment offices that they need workers because they do not expect the office to send them anyone anyway, says Sandra Warden, who at Dehoga is responsible for monitoring developments in the labor market.

Warden bases her estimate of the worker shortage on experiences from previous years.

– In 2019, around 40,000 workers were missing in hospitality and the hotel industry. But during the coronavirus pandemic, the situation became even more acute, says Warden.

During the pandemic and the closure of establishments, many workers in this sector found employment in another, generally better-paid, sector. Demand for workers has intensified drastically, especially now in the middle of the holiday season.

The vast majority of Germans spend their holidays in their own country, but this year they often encounter closed doors at hospitality establishments in the places where they are vacationing, writes Deutsche Welle.

– Many restaurants and cafés are resorting to various measures: shortening working hours, or pausing for several days during the week. It also happens that due to a lack of kitchen staff they drastically shorten the menu, says Warden. In some establishments, a self-service system is also being introduced because there are simply not enough waiters.

Dehoga places the most hope in the adopted reformed immigration law, which will enable easier immigration from countries outside the European Union even for workers without a university degree, as well as in easier access to the labor market for refugees. Dehoga believes that work also needs to be done to improve the image of employment in this sector.

At the same time, there is no mention of wage increases, which are relatively low in the hospitality and hotel sector. According to data from the online employment portal Stepstone, a qualified chef can expect a gross monthly salary of around 2,600 euros.

Source: jutarnji.hr