Written on 24-May-2017
It seems like almost every day we are reading about another sector facing a skills shortage. Recently, the news was all about ‘more engineers needed’, but we know that there is still a significant skills shortage in our kitchens, with fears only growing as we edge closer to Brexit.
We often talk about the chefs, but in what is fast becoming a candidate driven market, what can employers be doing to respond to the skills shortage in a way that works for them?
In today’s employment market there are five key factors that are impacting our workforce,
An ageing workforce
The percentage of the population that is 65 years or older is growing. It increased between 1975 and 2015, from 14.1% to 17.8% of the population, and is expected to grow to nearly a quarter of the population by 2045. Source: ON
Increase in demand for flexible working
A report by the CIPD predicts that flexible working will be the main way of working for 70 per cent of organisations by 2020, and says that employers need to develop flexible policies with staff. Source: CIPD Report
Millennials
There are different motivators for the next generation of our workforce. Factors such as work/life balance and personal development are key motivators for millennials, even more so than financial benefits. Source: Millenials at Work – PwC
Highest ever employment rates
(74.6%*) – so businesses have to be clever at attracting and retaining talent. Source: ONS
Growing number of establishments
Britain now has 20.9% more restaurants than it did five years ago, so with less chefs and more venues, attracting and retaining talent is getting more and more competitive. Source: Market Growth Monitor 2017
First thing, embrace it; it might not be how it was, but it is how it is, so why fight it? Be proactive and embrace the new normal.
Embrace a leaner core workforce. No kitchen can be without a core full time team, but in a sector that fluctuates seasonally, operating a lean core team and using a pool of reliable and talented chefs to dial up and dial down as required, is a real option for many venues.
This will not only enable your core team to feel more engaged, valued and in control of their own kitchen’s needs, but it could also help the bottom line as you’re not paying for additional team members at times when the level of consumer demand does not require it.
So in a world of flexible working, why not start flexible recruiting, and let CJUK help your team to adapt to the changing recruitment landscape.
Written on 16-Feb-2018
At the start of 2018 we outlined our key topics for 2018; Brexit, attracting new talent, retaining existing talent, flexible working and health & well-being. On Tuesday 20th March the CJUK
Written on 17-Apr-2018
Stress is a word we hear time and time again from chefs, and it is a topic that cropped up multiple times during our CJUK Live panel event at Northern Restaurant & Bar in March. Our panellist,
Written on 01-Nov-2017
Recently, an article Agency Chefs: Kitchen Heroes or Mercenary Zeros? appeared in the 20th October 2017 issue of Big Hospitality regarding the rise of the agency chef. Since CJUK are a recruitment
