Despite better business, restaurants, bars and pubs still employ significantly fewer staff than before the Corona crisis. In 2022, the number of employees in the catering industry increased by 12.5 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. However, it was still 11.8 percent lower than in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic. Due to the Corona crisis, many employees have switched to other industries due to a lack of prospects due to repeated closures. Bars and pubs were particularly hard hit by the crisis: they increased their staff by more than a third (36.2 percent) last year. However, this was still a good fifth (21.0 percent) fewer employees than in 2019. “Companies that offered food were better able to retain their staff during the crisis,” the statisticians found. The number of employees in restaurants, snack bars and cafes was 14.0 percent higher than in 2021. Compared to 2019, they recorded a 9.5 percent decrease in staff. There was a similar picture among caterers and catering service providers: They had around 5.6 percent more employees than in 2021, but 11.8 percent fewer than in 2019.
Short-time workers continued to count as employees. The number of employees was at its lowest point in the winter months of 2020 and in the following spring, when many restrictions applied nationwide due to the corona and bars had to remain closed. The catering industry is an important employer: in 2021, 1.01 million people were employed in the industry subject to social security contributions or on low wages – albeit around a seventh (14.7 percent) fewer than in the pre-Corona year 2019. The catering industry lost in the two years of the crisis especially marginally paid employees: their number fell by 23.1 percent in 2021 compared to 2019 to 346,500. The number of employees subject to social security contributions fell by 9.4 percent to 662,400.
Hoteliers and restaurant owners are now looking to the future with more optimism than at any time since the beginning of the Corona crisis in March 2020. Sales losses in the industry are declining and business expectations are increasing, according to a survey by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga). “More and more companies in the hospitality industry are optimistic after years of dry spells,” said Dehoga President Guido Zöllick.
