Butchering staff urgently needed
A survey that the German Butchers Association has recently carried out among its members shows that the personnel situation in the butcher's trade is still extremely tense. Almost exactly a quarter of those surveyed said they had just the right amount of staff. Around 65% have too few staff and only 3% too many. 13% said they had too few staff but were not currently looking. The reason given was in particular the uncertainty regarding the further development of the virus. Around 35% can still do business well despite a lack of staff, while around a quarter of those surveyed are already feeling negative economic effects due to the lack of staff. The labor shortage is a threat to the existence of just over 3%, while in around 21% of the companies “only” parts of it are threatened.
Fig. 1: Personnel situation in the butcher's trade
Three quarters of all companies surveyed that indicated that they were looking for staff are currently on the lookout for trained sales staff and just over 40% for unskilled sales staff. More than 50% of the companies are also looking for trainees for sales. Among the butcher's apprentices, the proportion of companies searching is only slightly lower at just over 40%. The same goes for the trained butcher. Here, too, over 40% of the companies are looking for new employees. Only less than 10% of butchers are looking for administrative staff.
Fig. 2: Personnel search in the butcher's trade
Personnel who were made redundant in other industries due to the corona crisis could be poached from 14% of the companies. This meant that only very few companies were able to use the crisis to increase their staff. The training quota is still high in the butcher's trade. Only around a quarter of the companies surveyed stated that they did not provide training.
Fig. 3 .: Training in the butcher's trade
In order to be able to attract employees, social media are used first, followed directly by a search via the employment office. With more than 55%, searches via acquaintances and advertisements in the newspaper continue to play a major role. A little more than a third of those questioned use internships to familiarize young people with the butchering trade. Relatively few butchers go to schools at around 10%. Cooperation with schools is also rather rare.
