SPECIAL:


THE PEOPLE EDITION


HOT SIDE AUTOMATION


Animating


S the automated


Faced with a shrinking workforce and a waning appetite for working in restaurant kitchens, operators are increasingly employing low-skilled and unskilled workers. To compensate for a lack of experience, more automated equipment must carry the load. Jim Banks asks how manufacturers are striving to meet this need


killed workers are leaving the foodservice industry in droves. Data from the US since the start of the pandemic is startling, and there is no sign that this worrying trend is easing. According to US government


statistics, by May 2020, 5.9 million jobs had gone from the restaurant industry as the industry shut its doors to combat the spread of Covid-19, but this masked a growing trend of people quitting their jobs and looking for a new direction. In August 2021, the US Labor Department reported that 4.3 million Americans left their jobs, the highest number since December 2000, and restaurants, bars, and hotels were among the worst aff ected, losing almost 900,000 workers in that month alone. September 2021 was another


signifi cant month in what people are calling ‘The Great Resignation’. During that month a further 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs. The situation is no easier in the UK, where Brexit has exacerbated the problem. Changes to immigration laws following the UK’s departure from the EU have led to many EU nationals leaving the country. The Food & Drink Federation (FDF) reports that one in fi ve UK-based EU nationals is employed in the food and drink supply chain, so the sector is being hit harder than most. But the problem goes deeper than


Brexit. Fewer people are applying to catering colleges, which suggests that fewer young people are pursuing careers as chefs and waiting staff . The FDF also reports that a third of employees in the industry will reach retirement age by 2024, which could create a shortage of around 140,00 workers in the food and drink supply chain. “With the pandemic, there is a 30%


shortage of staff because people are going where they are paid more and have a healthy environment to work in,” observes Frank Wagner FCSI of German consultancy K’Drei. “But this problem


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