Dutch restaurant industry suffers labor shortage leading to untrained staff confusion

Labour shortages are leading to staff being inadequately trained.

The Dutch restaurant industry is facing a shortage of labour, with 64 vacancies for every 1,000 jobs in "accommodation and food serving" in the last quarter of 2022, a report by Peter Backman revealed.

 As a result, the untrained staff is being recruited to fill the gaps, which is causing confusion for customers.

According to Backman, attendees at the International Ghost Kitchen Conference in Amsterdam were served food by waitstaff who were unable to identify the dishes they were serving. 

Similarly, a restaurant's "Sandwich of the Day" was described simply as "pesto," leaving the customer confused. 

This lack of knowledge could be due to inadequate training from managers who are struggling to fill vacancies. With customer satisfaction a top priority in the industry, experts stress the need for additional, careful training for new hires.