Fair operator Joop Hoefnagels from Someren-Einde has his hands in his hair. If he doesn’t find staff quickly, he has to close his Break Dance attraction at the fair in Etten-Leur. “I wonder where all those people are, it’s driving me crazy.”
Joop Hoefnagels has been traveling through the country with its attractions for many years. His two sons are currently in Zevenaar with the Break Dance, he has been in Etten-Leur since Friday with the Break Dance.
Until today it was just fine. But from Monday he will be short of hands. He still has one trump up his sleeve, because his wife can help. But he is still not out of the woods.
“There was no peak to earn in corona time, so my employees from then are no longer there.”
“There is simply no staff available, I definitely need two people. There are two of us behind the cash register because it is very busy and someone has to collect the tokens. I’m at my wits’ end, if this continues I’ll have to shut down my attraction.”
Meanwhile, friends and family help him along, but it’s all temporary.
“All well-intentioned, but I can’t run a season with that. It’s about permanent staff, I need that. There was no peak to earn in corona time, so my employees from then are no longer there. No idea where they have gone, maybe they are in the WW.”
“People don’t end up on the street after the summer, I also have enough work in the winter.”
And then major fairs such as Tilburg and Eindhoven have yet to come. The fair operator foresees a major problem, which he has never experienced before. He sometimes fell a man short, but not that extreme. “It makes me nervous. I’ve been on the phone all day, talking to people, but there’s nothing.”
Hoefnagels says it can provide people with work for a year. “People don’t end up on the streets after the summer, I also have enough work in the winter. Like in my oliebollen stand.”
The attraction of Hoefnagels:
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