Glenn Fulcher, from Eastern Institute of Technology Te Pukenga, has encouraged more people to take up a career as a chef. Photo / Paul Taylor
Glenn Fulcher, from Eastern Institute of Technology Te Pukenga, has encouraged more people to take up a career as a chef. Photo / Paul Taylor
The Hawke’s Bay hospitality industry might be crying out for more chefs, but enrolments in the region’s main cookery course suggest the younger generation isn’t listening.
Eastern Institute of Technology Te Pūkenga school of hospitality and tourism head, Glenn Fulcher, said people taking his NZ Certificate in Cookery Level 4course were now likely to get an average of 10 offers each on completion of the course.
But that level of demand isn’t proving much of a temptation yet, with just 10 budding chefs enrolling for the 2023 course, which starts later in February.
Fulcher said prior to Covid hitting, they would get about 35 people each year for the course, and last year there were 11. Completion of the one-year course means graduates can work as qualified chefs.
“With Covid hitting us in the past, we have seen a decline [in enrolments] in the last three years, but now being out of all of that stuff, we were hoping to have a larger enrolment this year,” Fulcher said.
“We get so many phone calls and emails saying, ‘Have you got any spare students?’”
Staff wanted signs in Napier eateries. Photo / NZME
Fulcher said the role of chef was a great profession to get into, but the past few years appeared to have turned a lot of people off.
“I think there were a lot of people who witnessed what happened with the hospitality sector, and the media commentary was very much around ... big lockdowns, businesses closing, and people losing jobs.”
He said while Hawke’s Bay fared better than a lot of other regions, parents talking to their children about career prospects appeared hesitant to suggest hospitality.
He said other professions such as trades had become more popular, and there needed to be more done to attract school leavers into becoming a chef.
“I think we are missing that spark at the moment with kids coming out of school - they don’t think about the passion and the excitement about that trade they would love to do, they think about, ‘I would have to work nights and weekends and long hours. So, what other options have I got?’”
He said the pay in hospitality was a factor.
“It’s not necessarily the best pay, but you do it for lots of other reasons besides the pay - because you love what you do.”
“It has so many opportunities, and the travel factor will open up again, and the excitement of doing that production or service each night - you get that adrenaline rush.”
The general manager of a popular eatery in Napier, who did not want to be identified, said staff shortages were hitting hard, and the most difficult roles to fill “by far” were chefs.
He said it was a lengthy and difficult process to bring immigrants in from overseas to work in hospitality jobs permanently, and the industry needed more chefs.
Hawke’s Bay Today surveyed the main streets of Napier CBD in January and found three eateries temporarily closed with signs citing staff shortages, while a further 16 stores, bars and eateries had “staff wanted” or “now hiring” signs in the window.
EIT Te Pūkenga still runs its Scholars Restaurant on select dates, where the public can come and dine while students practice their skills.
