Understanding the reasons for chefs’ shortage and their impact on Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo restaurants in hotel industry
Too, Nelly Jepkemboi (2023)
2023
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202301301823
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202301301823
Tiivistelmä
This study is set to explore and investigate the reasons why shortage of chefs exists and the im pact this shortage has on Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo restaurants in hotel industry and the well being of chefs. Also, to find out strategies that can be applied to address the shortage.
The theoretical framework confirmed that there is chefs’ shortage in the hospitality industry and the reasons for the shortage are caused by increased demand of chefs, high rate of chef turn over laborious work, highly variable working hours, few students taking the course, many parts time contracts and unattractive wage levels.
The study adopted qualitative research method to investigate the reasons for chefs’ shortage and the impact it as caused on hotel restaurants and wellbeing of chefs, Interviews were used as a method of data collection and thematic analysis applied to analyse the data collected.
The main findings of this research showed that there is chefs’ shortage and the reasons in cluded that many chefs who left the restaurant industry during Covid-19 pandemic and never came back, few chefs being trained in schools as many drops after joining, demanding work with low pay, and difficulty of getting admission to study as chef in Finland from broad.
Challenges that the shortage of chefs bring in the industry includes working with limited skilled extra cooks. Also, the interviewees mentioned that permanent chefs must work for too long to cover for the missing employees, they bear the responsibility being the main chef over the extra chef, menus sometimes must change and be as simple as possible or using precooked foods, poor skills give low valued results.
The impact of the shortage on the hotel restaurants industry included poor services, difficulties in meeting customer demands, loses as hotels make money mostly from restaurant sales than rooms sales, reduced number of foods served. While the impact on the wellbeing of chefs in cluded stress, limited time for themselves or families, affected relationships, physically and men tally draining, working from home after the shift and working extra hours.
There are interlinked factors causing the shortage and restaurants should consider using strategies
The theoretical framework confirmed that there is chefs’ shortage in the hospitality industry and the reasons for the shortage are caused by increased demand of chefs, high rate of chef turn over laborious work, highly variable working hours, few students taking the course, many parts time contracts and unattractive wage levels.
The study adopted qualitative research method to investigate the reasons for chefs’ shortage and the impact it as caused on hotel restaurants and wellbeing of chefs, Interviews were used as a method of data collection and thematic analysis applied to analyse the data collected.
The main findings of this research showed that there is chefs’ shortage and the reasons in cluded that many chefs who left the restaurant industry during Covid-19 pandemic and never came back, few chefs being trained in schools as many drops after joining, demanding work with low pay, and difficulty of getting admission to study as chef in Finland from broad.
Challenges that the shortage of chefs bring in the industry includes working with limited skilled extra cooks. Also, the interviewees mentioned that permanent chefs must work for too long to cover for the missing employees, they bear the responsibility being the main chef over the extra chef, menus sometimes must change and be as simple as possible or using precooked foods, poor skills give low valued results.
The impact of the shortage on the hotel restaurants industry included poor services, difficulties in meeting customer demands, loses as hotels make money mostly from restaurant sales than rooms sales, reduced number of foods served. While the impact on the wellbeing of chefs in cluded stress, limited time for themselves or families, affected relationships, physically and men tally draining, working from home after the shift and working extra hours.
There are interlinked factors causing the shortage and restaurants should consider using strategies