Some restaurants can’t even hire enough chefs to serve customers
Translated by Thomas Ansell
The hospitality sector in Friesland is crying out for staff following its post-lockdown reopening, reports the Omrop Fryslân. Some restaurants can’t even serve their full menus, and it is expected that the problems will only continue in the sector.
“We’ve really had a problem for about 22 years, it’s always been a problem in the ktichens, but now it’s all-round”, says Marcel Oost, of the Hotel Oostergo in Grou. “I thought that it would come good, but we’ve been trying to find new staff since February. Our last post was a notice saying that we had to close for two days- it’s a drastic measure, and I couldn’t sleep for two nights. It’s also terrible for our existing staff, who have to work extra-long hours.”
At De Pleats (a hotel and restaurant) in Burgum, owner Eelke Duursma is also looking for staff: “we’re trying to find two chefs, and we also have room for another trainee on top of that. You have to think creatively, and we’re flexible with what people want: it’s got worse during the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Melle Bakker, of the hospitality organisation for Friesland (de Horecabond) explains the issue with the supply of staff: “the whole sector stood still for a year and a half, and about 30 percent of the staff went off to work elsewhere: they aren’t coming back. And now the sector is a ‘growth sector’ and so we need even more people.”
The Province of Friesland has asked the organisation gastvrij Fryslan to work on plans to alleviate the problems.
Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash
