Fewer dishes on the menu, more focus on simple foods. The long-established signature dish now tastes different every day. One day off turned into two. What’s wrong in the catering industry right now?
While their guests are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the markedly reduced selection, restaurant owners, head chefs, and hospitality experts know the underlying reasons – yet they are often at a loss. The biggest challenge? “Finding enough staff who are able to cope with stress,” one of them sums it up. “To hold on to good employees,” another says. What’s missing is not a lack of motivation, but simply the necessary workforce.
Since the Covid pandemic at the latest, a severe shortage of skilled workers has been an everyday reality in the kitchen and service area. Although the number of vacancies has fallen due to abandoned expansion plans, business tasks and insolvencies in many places, the situation remains tense. According to the Kitchen Barometer 2026 by Rational and Statista, around two-thirds of the 250 kitchen operators surveyed internationally report significant effects of the shortage of skilled workers on their work – in Europe as well as in Asian countries and North America. The consequences? Lower capacities, fluctuating or even generally reduced quality, and overburdened employees. The situation is particularly dire in Japan: 72 percent of culinary professionals there report an increased workload for their remaining staff. Japanese kitchens thus fall well above the global average of 57 percent. But what can break the vicious cycle of increasing workload, longer waiting times and shorter opening hours? How do you manage to offer guests the service and culinary quality they expect?
Employee retention in the catering industry: Flexible working models to combat the shortage of skilled workers
While long working hours and high pressure were taken for granted in the past, the focus is now increasingly on the satisfaction of restaurant employees. Working from home? This is often standard practice in other industries, but it is simply not an option in kitchens and service. But even a little flexibility in scheduling can become a decisive advantage in the race for skilled workers. Keyword: Family-friendly.
Anyone who has found qualified employees wants to retain them for the long term – purely for their own benefit in order to gain a competitive advantage. As in other industries, this means restaurants are increasingly turning to employee retention strategies – ranging from bonus payments and various benefits to the aforementioned flexible work models. 50 percent of respondents have already taken steps in this direction, and as many as 60 percent see potential for the future in this area.
Experts agree that employee satisfaction also plays a major role in quality assurance. If the culinary level is to be maintained in spite of difficult conditions, employee training and regular feedback discussions play an important role.
Optimize kitchen processes: How professional kitchens can do more with less staff
Another screw that can be turned when the workforce is shrinking is to increase efficiency. So about a third of professional kitchens are tackling the current challenges by optimizing logistics and modernizing their kitchens: shorter distances, smoother workflows. Chefs produce larger quantities in advance. They are also increasingly relying on time-saving and flavor-boosting low-temperature cooking – even overnight, which supports a more even distribution of the workload during ongoing operation. Another important factor in times of staff shortages and high staff turnover are checklists. The goal? Consistent standards and a clear division of labor, even when the team changes.
Digitization in the kitchen: What solutions to mitigate the shortage of skilled workers
When staff are at their limits, digital solutions can take the strain off them. Almost all respondents benefit from digital systems in some form. 35% work with fully integrated system landscapes,
46% with partially networked systems; a further 17% mainly benefit from standalone solutions. Only 5% already have a fully integrated system landscape.
Front of house digital checkout systems and ordering software are currently standard for every second company. Back-of-house duty planning and personnel management are becoming increasingly digital. Handwritten recipe collection? Losing importance. About one professional kitchen in three reports already using digital recipe management platforms and, above all, standardized cooking programs that make it possible to reproduce dishes consistently. The situation is similar with digital kitchen management software and intelligent kitchen appliances.
So partially automated boiling, including real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, is no longer a thing of the future. Those who use these systems benefit from them significantly: 86 percent of kitchen management software users report significant benefits, compared to 85 percent with automated inventory management. Connected devices make the situation easier for 78 percent of users. The empirical values speak for themselves – and yet only around 20 percent of all kitchen operators surveyed expect a noticeable reduction in the shortage of skilled workers thanks to digital solutions. This is probably due to differences in perception between users and non-users, which will converge as experience values are shared more widely.
Shortage of skilled workers in the restaurant industry: Facing the future with craftsmanship and high-tech
A patent recipe for the shortage of skilled workers does not seem to have been found yet. The challenges are too complex, the companies and regional conditions too diverse. Technology is advancing more slowly in the catering industry than in other industries. However, people are increasingly taking new digital paths here too. Where people and technology work together wisely, there is more room for what guests are looking for in spite of limited human resources: good food in a relaxed atmosphere – without any fluctuations in quality and long waiting times. And perhaps, along with these unavoidable changes, the general enthusiasm for a career in the restaurant industry will return as well. For kitchens looking to take the next step without getting lost in generic recommendations, RATIONAL offers tailored solutions – precisely matched to each individual operation. Request a free concept proposal here: Request your individual solution
Download the full study with all the results here
