The shortage of staff in the catering industry continues: A Berlin landlord is desperately looking for employees, but in his opinion there is too little incentive to work. The citizen’s allowance is also to blame for this.

Mario Schulz, a Berlin restaurateur who runs a restaurant in the Nikolaiviertel in Berlin, is facing a massive personnel crisis. As “N-TV” reports, Schulz has six vacancies to fill, including positions for cooks, service staff and kitchen assistants.

He pays around 600 euros a month for job advertisements online, but he can’t find any employees, as he complains to “N-TV”. There are various reasons for this – including political ones.

During the pandemic, the restaurant industry saw a significant decline in employment as many had to give up their jobs and look for work elsewhere. This phenomenon and the resulting difficulties in finding new staff are not limited to Schulz’s restaurant, as “N-TV” further reports.

“The personnel market is at rock bottom,” the owner of a traditional restaurant in Berlin-Mitte told the news portal. People expect too much when they apply to work for him – sometimes 3,000 euros net per month plus tips. The people who work for him get the average salary for the industry: 1,800 euros. He cannot meet the applicants’ high demands because he does not want to increase prices so much, he told “N-TV”.

Schulz also criticizes the employment agency and wants more pressure to be put on the unemployed. In his opinion, the financial difference between the earnings of his employees and those receiving social benefits should be greater. He tells “N-TV”: “If the unemployed received less money, more people would be willing to cook, wait tables or clean in [his restaurant].”

The landlord had a positive experience with immigrants, whom he describes as “super workers”. Nevertheless, obstacles were also apparent here; a Syrian applicant, for example, had to wait more than three months for his work permit.

The owners of a traditional restaurant on the Bürgersee had a different experience. The St. Bartholomä had to close temporarily for the first time. The landlord complained to the “Oberbayerische Volksblatt” that fewer and fewer people want to work.

He also believes that the amount of the citizen’s allowance is to blame. This also applies to people who are seeking protection in this country. “We had a few Ukrainians. Their fellow countrymen recommended that they take citizen’s allowance and enjoy life more,” said Amann in the “OVB”.

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