Almost every day there is a long line waiting for the Jan de Groot pastry shop in Den Bosch before the opening. They only come for one thing: the Bossche Bol or as they say in Den Bosch: a ‘sjekladebol’. Still. Owner Jan de Groot is struggling with a lack of staff and had no choice but to close his business on Mondays from now on. “It’s the first time I’ve had to force myself to do this.”
It is three o’clock in the morning and owner Jan de Groot is already busy in the pastry shop. He prepares the Bossche bollen and dips them in the hot chocolate. “I have to cooperate because of the crowds. I start at three o’clock these days and the rest comes at six o’clock. That is different than before, then I only started at seven o’clock. I prepare the bulbs and my colleague fills them with the cream.”
“We have to row with the belts we have.”
The fact that Jan cooperates in his pastry shop does not come from luxury. “We work with a total of 48 men and women in the pastry shop. That is not enough. We are at least six people short. We have to make do with the belts we have. That does mean that we can make fewer Bossche Bollen. “We are now closed on Mondays to shift staff. It saves about twenty percent in income. Hopefully the staff shortage will be over soon.”
Jan sometimes has to say no to his regular customers during the week. “Since we closed on Mondays, it has become busier on Tuesday mornings. The first customers are at the door at half past seven. I am also not happy that we are closed on Mondays. There was no other way. It is also available protecting the staff and myself. We were all walking on our gums. Something had to be done.”
The baker has done a lot of antics to make people enthusiastic about coming to work at his company. Of course he posted vacancies, but Jan called and e-mailed like a true call center with potential candidates who had already shown interest in a job. Without success. Whether it will get better? “Hope brings life. But I don’t see it happening in the short term.”
“I don’t express it often, but it does something to me.”
De Groot is not the only entrepreneur who is struggling with a lack of staff. “We’re all in this together. It’s exhausting and frustrating. I don’t express it often, but it does affect me. I’m the third generation and I’ve been in the business for 21 years. It’s my first time forced to close for a day.”
Good news for Jan and all fans of the sjekladebol: two of the six vacancies may be filled by new employees. One of them says she fell in love with it: “It’s good. It’s tough, but the work is fun.” It took some getting used to for the second new employee. “It’s busier here than in other bakeries. I’d like to stay. It’s never quiet here.”
