Recovery in the gastronomy sector is a long time coming
The German food service industry has still not recovered from the coronavirus crisis. In September of this year, businesses achieved a price-adjusted turnover that was 12.6% below the level of September 2019, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
This was also 0.2 percent down on the same month last year. Pubs have been hit particularly hard: revenue in the drinks sector has fallen by 34.5% in four years. Restaurants, pubs and cafés recorded a gap of 8.1 percent.
Falling sales are also accompanied by lower employment figures. Although they were 4.0% higher in September than a year ago, they were also 6.7% below the pre-crisis level of 2019.
In the battle for staff, who have become scarcer during the pandemic, businesses can rarely point to good earning opportunities. Exactly half of restaurant employees were working under low-wage conditions in October 2022. In the economy as a whole, the proportion of low-paid jobs was just 15.2%, with an hourly wage of €12.76 at the time.
The labor market in the hospitality industry, specifically in restaurants, is still struggling to recover from the economic impacts of the Corona crisis. The hospitality sector, including restaurants and cafés, is facing a significant gap in turnover compared to pre-crisis levels. Despite a slight increase in employment figures in September 2022, the number of jobs in the gastronomy sector remains below its 2019 level, highlighting the ongoing challenges in this industry.
Source: www.dpa.com
