Nowhere in the Netherlands is the staff shortage so acute as in Drenthe. More than 40 percent of the entrepreneurs in our province simply do not have enough manpower to keep their business running in the desired way. “You are looking for staff, but no one comes for an interview.”
The chairs are on the table and the tap is not connected. Eetcafé De Beurs in Hoogeveen makes a deserted impression this Wednesday morning. Owner Arjan Vosseberg looks around suspiciously. Last weekend he closed the doors of his business on Grote Kerkstraat. “We can’t get the schedules done,” he explains. “We have had too few staff for months. I had hoped that it would run smoothly after corona, but it does not.”
As a result, Vosseberg now lets his staff work in his other business, steakhouse Boschzicht in Echten. “I couldn’t get the schedules around there either. This way we can keep everyone happy at work.”
The need is greatest in the Vosseberg region – Southwest Drenthe. For example, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) show that no less than 45.3 percent of entrepreneurs in this area are struggling with a staff shortage. A year earlier, that percentage was 30 percent lower.
In Norg, the shortage of staff threatens to drive out the only fish trade in the village. Martijn Mulder, proud owner of fish trade Pieter Woltjer, will soon say goodbye to two employees. This has been known for a while, so Mulder has been looking for a successor for about 4 months now. So far without success, because no one came for an interview yet.
“It is now very extreme”, Mulder sighs. “This is of course a separate profession that you have to have some affinity with. But everything can be learned.” The fact that no one has come by yet is a cause for concern. “We try everything. We search online, recruit at the stall, are in the newspapers and have even raised it with the municipality. Unfortunately, there is no response. Really zero.”
Recognizable, Larissa van den Bos from Zeegse nods. She has been working at Grand Café Het Witte Huis in her hometown for 16 years. Now that the corona pandemic seems to be over, the crowds are increasing considerably. But staff is absent. “The service is still going pretty well, but trained staff in the kitchen is a big problem. Every now and then a student from the cooking school comes in, but that’s about it.”
Applications for cleaning or washing up don’t come in anymore. Vosseberg in Hoogeveen sees that too. “There are no extra hands. That is because the catering industry often needs people for the evenings and weekends.”
View here the consequences of the staff shortage that entrepreneurs in Drenthe are dealing with. (Text continues below the video)