Servers, cooks, clerks: there is a shortage of staff in the catering industry. The health crisis has amplified the phenomenon with 237,000 departures between February 2020 and February 2021. Extended hours, wages deemed too low: difficult in these conditions to encourage vocations. The CFA of Le Mans notes it: since the start of the school year in September, there have been 270 apprentices in the catering sector compared to 320 a few years ago. The open doors organized this Saturday were an opportunity to try to seduce future candidates.
A less attractive sector that needs to be renewed
Clément, 14, has been passionate about cooking for a while. Once a week, he prepares the meal for his family. Embarking on learning makes him want. “It came to me naturally. We have more efficiency and experience in the profession than when we stay at an office studying subjects”, explains the young Manceau almost a little in a hurry to practice. The head of the catering sector reminds him of the importance of theoretical subjects in training: “You can be a very good cook, if you don’t have enough general culture to express and pass on your ideas to the team, you don’t move forward” she explains to Clément, who nods. Her father, an after-sales service manager in the agricultural sector, was also an apprentice as an agricultural repair technician when he was younger. “I was trained by people who supported me well. And then I trained a little over twenty young people. Having small class groups is good. And then there are apprenticeship masters, business proposals”, emphasizes Jérôme.
The young people present at these open days are not discouraged by the particular working conditions in the catering industry. But there are clearly fewer interested candidates. “Employers are realizing: things will have to change on wages and working conditions”, believes Hélène Stempinski, youth and business relations manager at the CFA in Le Mans. For her, the sector must adapt to “changes taking place in society and in mentalities”.
– Solene de Larquier
The example of the construction industry which has been able to revive
She salutes the state of mind of some restaurateurs and sees the beginnings of change. “Some restaurants have reviewed the organization of work with lunch shifts and evening shifts. Some have revised their closing days so that staff have two consecutive days off. But there is still a lot of work to be done, in particular on the revaluation of wages”, says Hélène Stempinski. The construction industry was confronted with the same problem twenty years ago and has since increased the wages of apprentices to attract them: 40% of the minimum minimum wage in the first year of CAP, against 27% (i.e. 400 euros net) in the other sectors.
If you want to inquire, the CFA CCI Le Mans Sarthe has been organizing two information sessions per week since January 25, 2022 : every Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. for BTS, Bac+2+3… and every Wednesday at 2 p.m. for CAP and Bac pro in particular. These meetings are led by the young business advisors of the CFA.