Tag: chef jobs

Laurence Rogers- Excel Recruitment Senior Hospitality Consultant

Why Chefs Should Use LinkedIn More

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Senior Hospitality Consultant Laurence Rogers on why chefs need to be making the most of their LinkedIn profiles and his top tips for getting started…

 

I spend quite a lot of my time as a Recruiter on LinkedIn and it always surprises me how hospitality people, and especially Chefs, seem to put the bare minimum into their profiles on the platform. Funnily enough, the content that I enjoy the most comes from Chefs who do use LinkedIn to their advantage and showcase the foods, brands, and concepts that they are currently working on. It helps me keep in touch with culinary trends both nationally and internationally while putting industry experts as well as up and coming talent on my radar. But why do I recommend LinkedIn over other social media platforms….

Online Community

For one, LinkedIn gives you access to an online community of likeminded people working in your industry. You can join groups, build a network of professional chefs, swap ideas, pictures, recipes, techniques, projects… the list goes on! You get an opportunity to interact with industry experts and peers as well as the chance to become a mentor and influencer and build your own personal brand. LinkedIn is the only platform that allows you to engage with your industry on a professional level.

Find Jobs

This is a fantastic way to find a new job as LinkedIn is like an interactive jobs board! Not only can you see what jobs are available, you can also see who is already working there, what kind of food they produce and what kind projects they are working on. You no longer have to use a job advert to try and work out what the company would be like to work for, you can just pop on to their company page and do all your research on LinkedIn.

Career progression

LinkedIn will, without doubt, give you access as a professional to a lot more opportunities. If you can get your talent and experience across on your LinkedIn profile, it will open all sorts of doors for you. The best profiles will get noticed first but how do you make sure that your profile gets noticed…

Profile Tips

  1. Profile picture – keep it professional, make sure your chef whites are spotless and make sure you are smiling or at least look happy!
  2. Keep your dates of employment up to date – this is essential, we know chefs are not known for their amazing CVs so this is a great way around it.
  3. Add specific skills and interests – Cooking techniques, pastry skills, butchery, zero waste… the list goes on! Let people know what makes you stand out.
  4. Content, content, content… – Like posts from other Chefs, post links to videos and articles, post pictures of your own dishes, share recipes… The more active you are online, the more doors it will open for you.
Brian Shane Excel RecruitmentKorea 2019

South Korea: Key to Solving the Chef Crisis?

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on South Korea: Key to Solving the Chef Crisis?

 

It’s a continuous loop: hospitality businesses cry out for chefs, everyone points to different causes and solutions, nothing really happens and businesses remain in desperate need with the chef crisis.

While there are many proposed long-term action plans from governments, industry experts and think groups about how to solve the chef crisis going forward, none of these will put chefs in the kitchens of under-pressure businesses now. Last year, I was delighted to be asked to head to South Korea with the Restaurants Association of Ireland on a specialist chef recruitment drive. The trip turned out to be hugely successful we recruited fantastic chefs for own temporary chef team who over the past year have worked across Dublin for many of our clients. They have settled in nicely to life in Ireland and feedback from our clients regarding their work ethic and skill level has been fantastic. All of our client’s teams have loved the opportunity to learn from them about different techniques and about South Korean and other Asian cuisines.

Needless to say, when the opportunity arose again, I jumped at the chance. This time along with myself and RAI CEO Adrian Cummins, Excel’s very own Brian Nixon also made the trip. Brian has become something of an expert in recruiting chefs from abroad and the visa process over the last year, handling the administrative process for both our own chefs’ visas from start to finish. There are a number of steps to getting chefs over from Korea and into Irish kitchens, but Brian is the number 1 expert in Ireland for chef work permits and knows the minute details of each part of the process.

We again attended the World Job+ Recruitment Fair to meet and interview chefs who are interested in coming to Ireland on the Chef Work Permit scheme. As most people know, new regulations came into effect in March of last year, removing some chef grades from the ineligible occupations list and making it easier to recruit chefs from outside the EU. There is an overall quota of 610 employment permits available each year. Alongside meeting with the chefs themselves. Since returning from Korea, we have already placed nearly all the chefs we met in Korea with clients nationwide but we have a few really great candidates left and are in the process of matching them with potential employers.

Brian and myself also met with a number of Korean officials, including Chang Gyun Jaegal, the head of the leader in the Korean food services industry, a major group with over 400,000 restaurants to discuss the further cooperation and commitment between Irish businesses and Korean jobseekers.

If you are struggling to hire Chefs or retain them for long periods and want to find out about how Excel Recruitment can help you through the work permit process please do not hesitate to contact me for more details.

Shane McLave Chef

Excel Recruitment’s Director Shane McLave feels the heat back in the kitchen

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on Excel Recruitment’s Director Shane McLave feels the heat back in the kitchen

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane McLave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

It’s been 12 years since I was last in the kitchen myself but as all chefs and ex-chefs will agree, your love of food never dies. So this April as I embarked on a culinary tour through Italy, Switzerland and France, when the opportunity to spend some time working in a professional European kitchen presented itself, I obviously couldn’t resist.

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Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years
Excel’s Shane McLave with Chef Nicolas Mekkaoui before service

This opportunity was something I’d always wanted to do while working in hotels and catering- but the schedule never allowed. It came via my old colleague and one of my best ever temp chefs as a recruiter- Nicolas Mekkaoui. One of the greatest perks for me of working in hotels and restaurants is the ability to meet and form lasting friendships with people from all over the world. Almost all the people I count as close friends, I met while working in Temple Bar for 12 years.

In my life as a recruiter, I’ve had the same conversation many times with chefs returning to the kitchen after a long spell away, one where I always tell them it’s just like riding a bike and all those usual platitudes. But I have to admit when it came to my turn to step back into the kitchen, the nerves most definitely kicked in when donning my apron again. The challenge for the day was catering a busy wedding in a small chateau in the French Alps near Annecy. The task at hand was a menu of traditional French fare with fresh, local ingredients. Working with such classic flavours meant the stakes were high, any mistakes I made would be easily noticed.

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

 

Just like back when I was working on the temp circuit, it takes a few moments to orientate yourself: opening and closing and reopening fridge doors, hunting for the secret spring you need to light the range, speed-reading the menus looking for things that you like doing or maybe want to pass on. After a minute – and a few deep breaths – you realise it’s all the same dance, regardless of location and time passed. You make your list of what mise en place is needed, check numbers and meal timings and get cracking.

 

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years
Excel Recruitment’s Shane McLave on chef duty

The experience was definitely a challenge but hugely rewarding, along the way rediscovering something I had forgotten. You can’t mess with a recipe in France or Italy without risking being taken out the back door and possibly shot, and more importantly- why would you want to anyway?

For me the biggest difference between kitchens here and kitchens in Italy and France is the focus. Here we seem to try and do a bit of everything and in many cases end up with nothing special. In stark contrast, touring restaurants in and around Lake Como it was really simple, when you want pizzoccherri go, go to the pizzoccherri place. When you wanted lake fish, you go the lake fish place. Many of the spots we visited did not even have a menu. If it was not for my guide and old pal Francesco, I would have had no clue what food would be arriving when I sat down at each venue. Good food does not have to be complicated as long as the focus is on freshness, flavour and quality. In fact, perhaps the star meal of the trip was a dinner of freshly baked bread with fresh burrato and parma ham bought directly from the farmers and assembled on a hilltop overlooking the lake.

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

 

Most chefs start out their careers because of an insatiable love of food. Over the years, it is easy for this to dim due to the stresses and strains involved in working in the industry, leading to many eventually straying completely as a result of the pressures on personal lives etc.. If you are a Chef and have been out of the kitchen for a while and are interested in coming back, why not call in and have a chat with our dedicated Chef consultant, Emma Conlon. We offer the ability to work more sociable hours and can help you achieve the right work/life balance for you, while also giving you the opportunity to work in great kitchens with passionate chefs. It might just be the thing to rekindle the love of food that brought you into this industry in the first place.

To get in touch with Shane call 01-8717676 or email Emma Conlon at emma@excelrecruitment.com to discuss joining our temporary chef team.

East meets West: Solving the Chef Crisis

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Many people within the hospitality industry lament the lack of chefs in Ireland, with everyone having their own opinions and perceptions on the reason behind the low, and falling, number of chefs working in Ireland.

I myself have spoken and written about the issue many times, but as the problem reaches epidemic levels- who is actually doing anything constructive in order to try and resolve the issues?

As a proud and active member of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, I was delighted to get the call from Adrian Cummins to assist them with their latest recruitment drive. I have travelled to Korea to attend the World Job+ Recruitment Fair at the Seoul International Travel Mart 2018 (SITM) to meet and interview prospective Chefs who are interested in coming to Ireland on the new Chef Work Permit scheme, announced earlier this year. The new regulations came into effect in March this year, removing some chef grades from the ineligible occupations list and making it easier to recruit chefs from outside the EU. The is an overall quota of 610 employment permits available.

Even though it’s been a few years since I was last in my whites on a full-time basis, the Chef inside me was really excited to come to this corner of Asia. As my only previous experience of Korean cuisine came from eating on Dublin’s Parnell Street, I was excited by the prospect of trying as much of the local cuisine as possible and I have to say I was not disappointed in the slightest. The bustling but pristine streets are filled with the amazing aromas coming from street food stalls, fresh produce on display and live prawns and octopus in the tanks, a stark contrast to the mammoth New York-style skyscrapers y towering above and the familiar four and five star hotel chains that you would expect to see in Paris, London or Dublin.

And what of the Chefs?

Koreans by their nature are extremely hard working, knowledgeable, diligent and creative and this really comes across when you talk to the chefs. They are connected with food and take great pride in the skills that they gain in Culinary College and their careers, most of the Chefs have a good level of English and the main reason for wanting to come to Ireland seems to be to further that knowledge. I have met with a considerable amount of Chefs and there is great interest amongst them in coming to Ireland. Although the initial permit will be for two years, most of them are already planning to extend this further as even though there are countless restaurants in Seoul it can be difficult gaining employment opportunities and advancement in a city with over 10 million people.

If you are struggling to hire Chefs or retain them for long periods and want to find out about how Excel Recruitment can help you through the work permit process please do not hesitate to contact me for more details.

Shane Mclave General Manager

Budget 2019: Why Brexit is only one reason VAT at 9% must be saved

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

With the Budget looming, General Manager Shane Mclave offers his analysis on what this Budget, Brexit and the question mark over 9% VAT could mean for the hospitality industry

It’s the same story every year, as the hospitality industry winds down from a hectic summer season, attention turns to October’s Budget announcement and the debate around the industry’s 9% VAT rate begins again.

So will the 9% rate be kept this year or will it return to the rate of 13.5%, which was last in effect in 2011? The speculation is rampant again this year with no indications as yet from the Department of Finance as Budget Day draws nearer.Many commentators like to discuss the ‘cost’ to the Exchequer but this is an inaccurate analysis of a much bigger picture and completely ignores how beneficial the VAT rate has actually been. According to the Revenue’s own figures, in 2012, the first full year of the 9% VAT rate, income to the Exchequer was €630m from the tourist industry. This figure is anticipated to reach 1.04bn as a result of the increased activity in the sector. The 9% tourism VAT rate has been fantastic help to the Exchequer, not a hindrance.

Since the introduction of the 9% rate, the tourism industry – hotels, attractions, restaurants, B&Bs, caravan and camping sites, activity providers and many others, have created thousands of jobs. Recent figures from the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) show a staggering 79,100 jobs have been created in the tourism and hospitality sector since 2011.

68% of those new jobs are outside of Dublin, a feat no other industry can come close to achieving. Tourism and jobs it creates, particularly in the regions, must be supported and nurtured.

The ITIC has set ambitious goals for the industry, such as growing overseas earnings by 65%. This is only possible with government support… and the retention of the 9% rate. Any further increases in costs will achieve nothing other than stifling demand and damage one of the country’s biggest employers. Now is not the time to meddle with a successful formula that has worked so well and has so much more to offer. With unemployment so low and the minimum wage set to increase further, salaries and wages are increasing meaning the industry is facing mounting labour costs in the coming years. Now, is the exact wrong time to place further financial pressure on the industry.

What many seem to forget is that the 9% rate is not that unusual and actually brings Ireland’s tourism industry in line with the rest of Europe. 16 of 19 eurozone countries have tourism VAT rates of 10pc or less, making Ireland fully competitive with other European cities. This point can’t be stressed enough considering we still don’t know what Brexit will look like. No matter how hard or soft it is, Brexit will have an effect on Irish tourism, a fact the government must keep in mind. Irish tourism is uniquely exposed to Brexit with 40pc of all international visitors coming from Britain.

The VAT rate has enabled Ireland’s hospitality industry to do fantastic things- attracting more tourists, grow across the country and employ thousands of people. For all these reasons and so much more, Keeping Vat at 9% is an absolute must.

Chef Job Interviews: The Do’s and Don’ts

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Excel’s General Manager Shane Mclave began his career as a chef before making the move into chef and hospitality recruitment. He’s been interviewing chefs for years and has seen it all in terms of the dos and don’ts. Read his top tips for chef job interviews here-

I have now been interviewing chefs for almost as many years as I was a chef myself and I can safely say that when it comes to certain really common questions, 50% of all chefs don’t have the answers. Many chefs, while great at what they do in the kitchen, don’t have the tools they need to prove their ability to manage a kitchen in a job interview. So what are the must-haves when going for an interview, or for that matter, what do you need to know to be able to build yourself a successful career as a chef?

Know your numbers

I understand that costs will vary from restaurant to restaurant depending on what you sell but you don’t need to be an accountant to have a basic understanding of costings. This is crucial in an interview. In broad terms:

If you are selling lobster for €30 euro, which costs you €12 to make, and sell a pizza, that costs you €2.50, for €28euro it goes without saying you will make a lot more money selling pizza then you will selling lobster. This is why pizza restaurants are everywhere and lobster restaurants are not.

When it comes to food and labour cost there is no exact formula but if you follow the rough rule of “a third, a third, and a third” you’ll be headed in the right direction. Slightly better again, would be “30, 30, 40”. This means meaning no more than 30% food cost (25%-27% would be optimal) keeping labour costs 30% and the rest should cover the cost of running the business and if you’re lucky, a profit at the end of the year.

For chefs trying to keep the kitchen running at less than 30% food cost, this works more or less in reverse i.e., if a starter costs you €3.00 to make then you multiply this by 3.5 and sell it for €10.50, if something costs you €10, then you sell it for €35.

With the numbers taken care of now comes the most important thing of all-

The Food

It’s amazing how many interviews I have sat through with chefs who don’t mention food at all. While HACCP and how you work in a team are important, when people hire a chef they above all want someone with a genuine love and passion for food and who’ll bring that enthusiasm into their kitchen. If you don’t have a passion for food perhaps you need a change of career or at least a change in kitchens.

I always ask chefs in interview ‘what the last restaurant that you ate in?’ or ‘what do you like to cook at home if you’re entertaining?’ and it’s staggering how many times I am met with a blank stare. I’ve gotten this response when interviewing seriously established head chefs from the likes of 4* hotels. Personally, I’m far more interested and excited to interview a second-year commis chef who goes foraging on their days off or grows herbs and vegetables at home and the same will be true for any potential employer so be sure to make the food central to everything you discuss in an interview.

Dress for success

Just because you wear whites all week doesn’t mean you can’t dress to impress in an interview. All good chefs are neat and clean in the kitchen and if you can’t groom yourself or dress in a professional manner then what are the chances won’t keep the kitchen neat and tidy or at least that is what a potential employer will think of you.

Dublin restaurant Etto takes top spot at Irish Restaurant awards

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Dublin’s Etto has been crowned Ireland’s Restaurant of the Year 2018.

The winning restaurant, located on Merrion Row, has taken home the award for Best Casual Dining Experience for the past four years. The restaurant also took home Best Customer Service award while head chef Barry Sun Jian took home the award for Best Chef in Dublin at the awards run by the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) earlier this week. Etto was opened in 2013 by Simon Barrett and Liz Matthews. Announcing the award, the RAI said: “Etto offers a daily changing, seasonal menu, served in a relaxed and informal environment and describe its dishes as honest and simple, using ingredients from local producers and suppliers where possible.” The prestigious award for All Ireland Best Chef went to Jess Murphy, head chef and co-owner of Kai Café Restaurant in Galway. Kai was also singled out for Best Digital Marketing.

The awards are now in their 10th year, received more than 90,000 online nominations were received for Irish restaurants and other hospitality businesses. Along with the public vote and votes from industry experts, winners were decided by judging panel assessment at regional level and by mystery inspections at National level. More than 1,000 restaurateurs, chefs and industry figures attended the All Ireland finals of the awards in Dublin on Monday night. A team of chefs, including several previous winners of the Best Chef title, cooked a six-course dinner for the finale at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road. The kitchen team included well known chefs included Gary O’Hanlon, of ‘The Restaurant’ fame and Danni Barry, whose restaurant, Clenaghans, took the Best Newcomer national title. Bistro in Waterford, and Elena Martinez of Crover House Hotel.

Liam Edwards, president of the RAI, said: “As an industry, the restaurateurs, pub-owners and entrepreneurs of Ireland continue to defy the odds. You strive to create jobs, expand upon Ireland’s understanding of food standards and world cuisine, all while maintaining exemplary customer service. Your support of Irish produce has never been greater and for this you should be wholeheartedly applauded.”

NATIONAL AND ALL IRELAND WINNERS

Best Gastro Pub:

Dublin – The Legal Eagle

Connaught – Cronin’s Sheebeen

Leinster – Lennons Gastro Pub

Munster – Moorings

Ulster – The Brewer’s House

All-Ireland – The Legal Eagle

Best Hotel & Guesthouse Restaurant:

Dublin – The Marker Hotel

Connaught – Wilde’s at The Lodge

Leinster – Ballyfin Demesne

Munster – Park Hotel Kenmare

Ulster – Newforge House

All-Ireland – Park Hotel Kenmare

Best Newcomer winners:

Dublin – Michael’s Mount Merrion

Connaught – Hooked

Leinster – Barrows Keep

Munster – Dooks Fine Foods Fethard

Ulster – Clenaghans

All-Ireland – Clenaghans

Best Cafe winners:

Dublin – Honey Truffle

Connaught – Pudding Row

Leinster – Strandfield Café

Munster – Maison Gourmet

Ulster – The Jolly Sandwich Bar

All-Ireland – Pudding Row

Best Wine Experience winners:

Dublin – Piglet Wine Bar

Connaught – Aniar Restaurant and Boutique Cookery School

Leinster – La Touche Wines 4 U

Munster – The Black Pig

Ulster – Ox Cave

All-Ireland – Piglet Wine Bar

Best World Cuisine winners:

Dublin – Nightmarket

Connaught – MoMA Restaurant

Leinster – Pink Salt Indian Restaurant

Munster – Palmento

Ulster – Tuk Tuk Asian Bistro

All-Ireland – Nightmarket

Best Kids Size Me winners:

Dublin – Michael’s Mount Merrion

Connaught – Gather Restaurant

Leinster – Platform Pizza Bar

Munster – GROW HQ Café and Food Education Centre

Ulster – Amici

All-Ireland – Michaels Mount Merrion

Best Local Food Hero winners:

Dublin – Jenny & Patrick McNally of McNally Family Farm

All-Ireland – Mark Murphy & Mark Doe of The Apprentice Chef Programme

Best Casual Dining winners:

Dublin – Hey Donna

Connaught – Gather Restaurant

Leinster – Truffles Restaurant & Wine Bar

Munster – Pilgrim’s

Ulster – Shu Restaurant Belfast

All-Ireland – Pilgrim’s

Best Emerging Irish Cuisine winners:

Dublin – Craft Restaurant

Connaught – Tartare Café + Wine Bar

Leinster – Kernel Bar & Kitchen

Munster – Sage Restaurant

Ulster – 28 Darling St

All-Ireland – Craft Restaurant

Best Restaurant Manager winners:

Dublin – Talha Pasha of Michael’s Mount Merrion

Connaught – Lee Hanifa of The Cottage Restaurant

Leinster – Joanne Harding of the Aldridge Lodge

Munster – Sally O’Brien of Farmgate Restaurant and Country Store

Ulster – Saul McConnell of NOBLE. Holywood

All-Ireland – Sally O’Brien of Farmgate Restaurant and Country Store

Best ‘Free From’ winners:

Dublin – I Monelli

Connaught – Sweet Beat Café

Leinster – Zucchini’s Restaurant

Munster – Nutrilicious Food Co

Ulster – The Dirty Duck

All-Ireland – Sweet Beat Café

Best Customer Service winners:

Dublin – Etto

Connaught – House of Plates

Leinster – Roundwood House

Munster – The Mustard Seed at Echo Lodge

Ulster – Harvey’s Point

All-Ireland – Harvey’s Point

Pub of the Year winners:

Dublin – Walshs Stoneybatter

Connaught – Flynns Bar

Leinster – Morrisseys

Munster – Murphy’s Bar Brandon

Ulster – Tomneys Bar

All-Ireland – Walshs Stoneybatter

Best Chef winners:

Dublin – Barry Sun Jian of Etto

Connaught – Jess Murphy of Kai Restaurant

Leinster – Sam Moody at Ballyfin Demesne

Munster – Aidan McGrath of Wild Honey Inn

Ulster – Chris McGowan of Wine & Brine

All-Ireland – Jess Murphy of Kai Restaurant

Best Restaurant winners:

Dublin – Etto

Connaught – Cian’s on Bridge Street

Leinster – TwoCooks Restaurant & Wine Bar

Munster – Mews Restaurant

Ulster – The Muddlers Club

All-Ireland – Etto

National winners:

Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant – Locks Windsor Terrace

Best Cocktail Experience – The Sidecar at The Westbury

Best Cookery School – MacNean House & Restaurant

Best Seafood Experience – Klaw Seafood Restaurant

Best Digital Marketing – Kai Restaurant

 

 

Hospitality industry welcomes relaxed work permits for chefs

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The hospitality industry has welcomed changes to work permit regulations that aim to make it easier to hire chefs from outside the European Union.

The changes remove some chef grades from the ineligible occupation list, meaning that if an employer has difficulty filling a vacancy they can look outside the EU for a suitably qualified person. The grades that were taken off the ineligible list include executive, head and sous chefs with a minimum of five years’ experience at that level, and chefs de partie, with a minimum of two years’ experience at that level. A quota will apply to the scheme, with a limit of two general employment permits per establishment and an overall quota of general employment permits of 610.

The decision was signed off by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys. Speaking about the decision she said, “My decision to remove certain chef grades from the ineligible lists will ensure that there is a mechanism to address the shortage of qualified chefs in the short term,” she said. “I have applied a quota to ensure that in the longer term the demand for chefs is met from a steady supply in the Irish labour market and, to that end, I am aware of the work that is underway to increase the supply of chefs through training initiatives such as the development of a new commis chef apprenticeship and a chef de partie apprenticeship.”

The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) welcomed the changes. “The hospitality industry in Ireland has been under significant strain in recent years in regard to staffing, and allowing more skilled professionals to enter the industry can only encourage further growth in this sector,” said Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the RAI. “The Restaurants Association of Ireland has been lobbying on this issue since 2012. There is an urgent need for 7,000 chefs per year to service our industry.”

The RAI previously warned the shortage of chefs was growing at a rate of 3,000 per year due to a lack of training places, and it had called on the Government to relax the work permit restrictions. The association claimed the shortage was limiting the expansion of the hospitality industry.

 

Salary Series 2018- Chef Salaries

Posted on | by admin

Excel Recruitment are delighted to release our 2018 Salary Survey. Our Salary Survey covers all aspects of the Hospitality Industry including Hotel, Chef and Industrial and corporate Catering salaries. In a series of blog posts, Excel’s expert team give their take on the year ahead and the factors affecting salaries in each industry. In To view our Hotel and Catering Salary Survey in full click here. To get General Manager Shane’ McLave’s take on hotel salaries and the effects of Brexit, click here.

The Irish hospitality sector’s chef crisis continued to dominate industry news and discussion last year, a nowhere near new phenomenon that looks to set to continue right through 2018. Businesses of all levels, shapes and sizes are continuing to struggle to attract, recruit and retain a quality of chefs at all levels. While there is much back on forth on about the issue and many solutions suggested, such as re-instating Cert qualifications or promoting apprenticeships, it needs to be stressed that much of the issue is centred around the industry standard pay rates for chefs.

The Average

Chef pay rates are again going up but they are still well short of the average industrial wage which is €36,000 per annum. In most establishments, chefs have to manoeuvre themselves into a management position in order to achieve that salary. The increase in minimum wage which came into effect in January will further highlight the issue as hourly rates above this will be expected to increase in line with the 30c increase to the minimum wage.

The Solution?

There are exceptions, as we are seeing savvy operators within the Hotel and Restaurant sector offering very attractive packages to attract and keep talented chefs. They can see by increasing the salaries they are seeing the benefits of a higher calibre of staff, greater retention and a lower turnover in talent. Retaining staff will be a major objective of businesses in 2018 as recruitment looks set to remain a highly competitive, candidate’s market. We’re already seeing business work hard at this through a mixture of reward and progression.

 

Tackling the Chef Crisis: Eimhear O’Dalaigh

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

In Part 2 of our Tackling the Chef Crisis series, consultant Eimhear O’Dalaigh discusses how she has seen the problem progress throughout her career as both a Chef and in recruitment…

The Chef crisis is not new, but have you seen the problem change and/or worsen in recent years?

Throughout my career as a Chef the shortage of chefs was always omnipresent but yes, the problem is definitely getting worse. We see it on a day-to-day basis in recruitment, there are definitely fewer chefs answering ads, responding to emails or willing to continue pursuing a career in the industry.

What, in your opinion, is the main cause of the chef shortage?

The job itself is quite hard and requires a lot of dedication and drive to remain in the industry long-term. The fall-out rate is very high in the industry. When I trained there were 30 in my class and out of this, only one is still working as a chef. Personally, I feel the hours are the predominant problem.

Is the problem industry-wide or worse depending on location, restaurant vs hotel or star rating?

I feel the problem is affecting restaurants, hotels and catering facilities of all levels across the board but it does seem that both the lower and higher end [Michelin and Five Star] of the spectrum seem to be having an easier time of it in terms of attracting and retaining quality Chefs.

What in your opinion is the solution(s) to the problem?

From the government’s side of things, I think a comprehensive training programme needs to be reinstated [like Cert] with proper work placements and from the industry side, the weekly hours need to be capped at 45. Often businesses are just shooting themselves in the foot by overworking their staff so they leave the industry and then don’t learn from their mistakes.All sides need to sit down and look at the problem and the potential solutions. They should get ideas from chefs, restaurants, educators, hoteliers, students and the people who have left the industry. The Government should also look at a program, similar to the one they use for nurses as there is a large pool of highly trained and experienced chefs in the states and the middle east that could be enticed over here if a visa programme were available
Do you think that there is a lack of incentives to work in the industry? What can be done to attract people to careers in the industry?

That is a difficult one to answer. Comprehensive training programs, treating it as a profession and not as a trade, trying to be a little better with work/life balance.