Fight for specialists: Havelland's gastronomy suffers from a lack of staff

Fight for specialists: Havelland's gastronomy suffers from a lack of staff

In the Sunday edition of the regional news, the view of an urgent problem in gastronomy is aimed at: While summer temperatures attract numerous guests to the restaurants and bars, the recruitment of personnel remains a real challenge. In the Havelland in particular, the shortage of skilled workers becomes noticeable, which accepts worrying proportions. According to maz-online.de Gastronomy businesses not only do well on sunny days, the growing demands on employees bring the staff to their limits.

Mathias Winterfeld from Gasthof Milow demonstrates this trend. He reports on difficulties in gaining qualified staff from the region. Despite his 19 employees, who mostly work full -time, he feels the decline in these workers. The working conditions in gastronomy, especially the unattractive working hours, scare many potential applicants - and not only for financial reasons.

adaptation strategies of gastronomy

pierre dawn, owner of the purple café in Rathenow, describes that the search for full -time forces seems almost hopeless. In the meantime, he works increasingly with employees who are employed part -time, with which they usually work under 30 hours a week. It is no secret: the labor market is characterized by an acute shortage of skilled workers, because according to a current study, almost 44,000 jobs are vacant in hospitality and gastronomy, while only around 29,000 appropriately qualified unemployed are available ( Zeit.de ).

The hotel industry in particular is particularly struggling: 42.8 % of the open spots are vacant here. The gastronomy can also only successfully conclude 40.1 % of its vacancies. The biggest bottleneck exists for cooks and chefs, where there is a deficiency of over 7,500 specialists. Many employees left the industry during the Corona pandemic, and a change from other sectors to the hospitality has become rare.

Olaf Wiechert, managing director of the restaurant "An der Fähre" in Ketzin, is another example of the difficult situation. He also recently contacted new employees directly - this work mostly part -time. In order not to overload your workforce, the Gasthof Milow decided, for example, to close the kitchen at 8 p.m.

the need for changes

The demands for an improvement in working conditions are getting louder and louder, according to the experts. A planned increase in the minimum wage to 13.90 euros in January 2026 and the reduction of sales tax to seven percent could raise salaries in the industry. However, it remains to be feared that the increasing costs in turn must be flipped to the guests. The result: falling profit margins in gastronomy, even if the number of guests remain stable on beautiful summer days.

Time is pushing, and the more important is a collective effort to finally get the personnel problem under control. The new generation attaches great importance to leisure and work-life balance-these are properties that may no longer be neglected when recruiting. While the opportunities for personnel recruitment over social media are increasing, the classic path through employment offices often remains frustrating - since there is often a breakneck or non -German -speaking applicant.

Another challenge shows on the training market: Here, too, it is difficult to fill apprenticeships in the hospitality industry, which also endangers the future of the industry. It remains exciting to observe how gastronomy will adapt to the challenges of the present.