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Working in a bakery is not attractive for everyone.
That should change now.
Some companies already offer their employees certain benefits.
© D. Karmann/DPA
The food-pleasure-restaurants union is calling for more wages in bakeries.
But payment is by no means the only problem that bakers have to contend with.
Wolfratshausen – Getting up early, working on the weekends – points that make working in a bakery unattractive for many.
Now the Food-Gourmet-Gaststätten union (NGG) is demanding 380 euros more wages for the around 560 employees in the 44 bakeries in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district.
This increase should apply to employees in all wage groups, regardless of whether they work in production or sales.
Union demands more wages for bakers: Crafts should become more attractive for young people
“We want to further reduce the wage gap and thereby make the bakery trade more attractive for young talent,” explains Manuel Halbmeier, managing director of NGG Rosenheim-Oberbayern.
Ultimately, bakeries are struggling with an enormous shortage of skilled workers, both in the bakery and behind the sales counter.
However, bakers in the region do not see employee pay as the only problem with the shortage of staff in the bakery trade.
Florian Perkmann, head master of the Miesbach-Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen bakers' guild, and owner of the Perkmann bakery in Miesbach with 37 employees, believes the NGG's proposal is "well-intentioned", but in view of the shortage of skilled workers, it is not the only solution.
The NGG's demand is justified, but ultimately he sees the individual companies as having a duty to create good working conditions for their employees.
Not only does the company have to survive, the employees also have to be able to live off their wages.
Florian Perkmann, head master of the Miesbach-Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen bakers' guild.
In this context, he recalls that wages were already increased by ten percent last year.
“It’s not just the company that has to live, the employees also have to be able to live off their wages,” says Perkmann.
The overall package has to fit.
“If an employer is not willing to pay the money for his employee, then he does not need any help from the union.”
There is currently an absolute employee market in the bakery trade: “If the company does not want to pay the wages that the employee would like, the employee could choose another employer.” Work-life balance is also playing an increasingly important role in the job search.
The bakery trade urgently needs to be made more attractive again, demands Perkmann.
This primarily refers to night work, which, according to the master baker, can even “mean withdrawal from the social environment”.
Tim Burger, junior manager of the Burger bakery in Geretsried, also sees the unattractive working hours as a possible reason for the staff shortage.
In order to get more people interested in the baking profession again, “the required 380 euros more wages would certainly help, but this increase is difficult for the companies to cope with.
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Unattractive working hours possible reason for a lack of staff in the bakery
In addition to the already high personnel costs, energy and raw material prices have risen extremely; the price of flour, for example, has doubled." The wage increase would perhaps solve the shortage of skilled workers, but whether the company would also benefit from it is questionable.
“The additional costs cannot be passed on to the customers.
Otherwise people would simply stay away,” says Burger.
In order to make working in the bakery more attractive, his company has introduced various benefits for employees, for example free further training, free snacks and fruit, e-bike rental and payment of membership fees for fitness studios.
It is a “difficult situation” for everyone, for the companies and for the employees.
Employees also have to contend with higher living costs.
However: 380 euros more in one fell swoop with 35 employees – “that could break our necks,” explains Burger.
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Master baker Michael Detter from Bad Tölz is of the opinion that “ever higher gross wages are not the solution because there is not that much left of it net due to the high taxes.” According to Detter, the region around Bad Tölz has a lot of purchasing power, so he charge more for his baked goods - and in return pay his 14 employees very well.
He pays his employees an average of ten percent above the standard rate, but the bottom line is that this is hardly noticeable.
“I hope that politicians will draw boundaries and that no taxes will have to be paid up to a certain income.”
Bakery already offers employees benefits such as fuel vouchers
Detter also offers its employees other benefits such as fuel vouchers or tax-free night surcharges and long weekends where Saturday and Sunday can be taken off.
However, he sees night work as more than just a disadvantage for the bakery trade: “If you’re an early riser, it’s not a problem.
“I can go to the authorities or go skiing during the day, which others then have to take extra time off for,” says the master baker.
Meanwhile, the NGG Rosenheim-Upper Bavaria is getting ready for a “hot strike winter”: the second round of negotiations between the NGG union and the Bavarian bakery trade is scheduled for the end of January.
By Simone Wittig
You can read the latest news from the Wolfratshausen/Geretsried region here.