“Small traders can’t afford it”

Work just four days instead of ten weeks vacation instead of five – what sounds like a dream is finding your way into more and more restaurants and hotels. For example, at the Löwen inn in Hausen am Albis ZH, where owner Joëlle Apter (46) has sent all employees on paid vacation for two months.

The Zermatt luxury hotel Cervo follows a similar pattern. Some employees have ten weeks of “free time” a year. This includes holidays, public holidays and compensation. Employees must purchase these during the off season of the hotel. “As a result, employees get a year-round contract rather than a seasonal job,” explains hotel manager Benjamin Dietsche, 32.

Small businesses can’t keep up

The 25-Hour hotel group successfully transitioned to a four-day week last year. “We’ve had 30 percent more applications since then,” says Director Lukas Meier (33) happily. “We now have the luxury of choosing between reapplications.”

The industry suffers from a shortage of skilled personnel. Innovative working models specific to the young generation Z offer a way out. But it’s not for everyone, warns Ruedi Bartel (65), President of the cantonal industry association Gastro Thurgau. “Small businesses don’t have a chance to offer that.”

He runs the Gasthof Krone in Balterswil TG with seven employees. He cannot take more than five weeks of vacation. If the staff were on vacation so often and forgone income, he would inevitably have to close the restaurant. Bartel can’t afford to spend four days a week either. The head of Thurgau gastro knows what’s up with the various small businesses in the country.

Lukas Meier of 25 Saat Hotels also admits that staff costs have increased due to the new working model. Its staff work 9½ hours four days a week, thus giving you half a working day free compared to the previous model. “It’s a long-term investment worth it for us.”

Dated Rössli and Hirschen – because there are no puppies

The other side of the coin: For rural bars like Ruedi Bartel, it will be even harder to find staff. “There are more lucrative offers elsewhere,” says Bartel. Some companies even have to close because of this.”

This includes Rössli at Lengwil-Oberhofen TG. Host Roland König (49) knocked out beg last fall. On the website it says “Batteries are empty”. “With today’s workforce, it is no longer possible to manage busy operations,” he told the “Thurgauer Zeitung” at the time.

Other bars, especially in the countryside, are closing because they can’t find a successor. This is what happened to the deer near Sirnach TG in Gloten. In over three decades, innkeepers Cäcilia and Ruedi Grob-Koster turned out the lights in the village inn for the last time at the end of November. It’s been dark in Hirschen ever since, no one wants to take over the restaurant.

drops in bucket

“A growing number of small villages in the country no longer have restaurants,” Ruedi Bartel regrets. “As a result, club life also suffers. They no longer have a place to meet after rehearsal or training.”

Even in urban areas, shortages of skilled workers continue to tightly control the industry. For example, the salad shop chain Not Guilty, which has three stores in the city of Zurich, recently posted an information board at its Stauffacher branch: Opening hours are being restricted due to a lack of staff.

There is no end in sight to the shortage of skilled workers in the food and beverage trade and other sectors due to demographic change. The national umbrella organization Gastrosuisse has launched a five-point plan to secure the future. The industry association wants to invest in the next generation, for example through career change programmes. But such measures are nothing more than a drop in the bucket.