Latest information about Germanyoriginating from Federal Labor Office (corresponding office of the OAED), refer to the month of June. About 7,600 tourism and catering jobs remain vacant, according to Deutsche Welle. The German Institute for Economics estimates that in 2020 alone, the first year of the pandemic, about 216,000 people left the industry. Some of these positions are not yet filled. However, there are significant differences between the individual states of Germany. The least problems were recorded in the most densely populated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Cologne, the state’s largest city with a tradition of entertainment, tourism and restaurants, they say they can easily find people to fill any departures. On the contrary, their Bavarian colleagues declare their inability to hire the necessary personnel. In the city of Würzburg, for example, 83.6% of the available vacancies in the industry are not filled. But even in the East German state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania, 60% of jobs in tourism and catering remain vacant, although this is a region with traditions in this activity.

According to the Institute’s previous survey published at the end of July, in 2020, about 34,800 people working in this sector changed their profession and started working as sales assistants or cashiers in supermarkets. Approximately 27,000 preferred office positions (secretary support and related occupations) and a similar number currently employed in the supply chain management systems industry. “The criterion of job security has become more and more important during the crisis,” says study leader Paula Risius. “Of course other factors come into play, such as a fixed work schedule, so that there is work-life balance.”

Consequently, the Institute researcher concludes, employers could be made more attractive by offering “individual time tracking” for more flexible time management and overall better working conditions. But even these measures are not enough to solve the problem. “Due to demographic changes, we will have a smaller workforce in the coming years anyway,” Paula Risius explains to Deutsche Welle. “Germany will not be able to solve this problem without increasing immigration and without broader interventions that will make things easier, for example, employment and childcare.”

In the coming months, ever-increasing energy prices will lead to a further decline in tourist traffic, and the industry will be even more tested, says Olaf Seppe, president of the German Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Brandenburg. “People will prefer a hot bath to a hot meal,” Seppe characteristically tells the German News Agency (dpa) and expresses fear that some hospitality businesses will be forced to close. “In the spring of 2023, the industry will be very different than today,” he argues.