Too few apprentices

“People will always eat and drink – but where?”

Landtmann boss Bernd Querfeld, project manager Monika Brunner-Strobl and WK chairman Wolfgang Binder (from left).

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel)

Don't complain, do something about it. This is the motto of the Viennese pilot project for premium apprenticeships in the catering industry. The casting is still ongoing.

The number of apprentices is falling. The catering and hotel industry in particular has been desperately looking for young talent for years. Bernd Querfeld, head of Café Landtmann, and Wolfgang Binder, owner of Café Frauenhuber and chairman of the coffee brewers' section of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, noticed this. Discussions about this gave rise to the idea for the premium apprenticeship pilot project, which is being implemented and supervised by business teacher Monika Brunner-Strobl.

An image problem
Because: "People will always eat and drink - but where if there are no more staff in the restaurants?" asks Querfeld. "Over the past 15 years, people have failed to present apprenticeships in an attractive light," says Binder. The Apprenticeship with Matura project did not have the desired success either. There is quite simply an image problem. "As a youngster, I heard that if you don't study at school, you have to do an apprenticeship. That was the threat," says Querfeld.

I love the contact I have with people in gastronomy. My goal is a management position and work abroad.

Jolyne Kasten (17), Lehrling

Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel

More than just serving
No other industry offers such great opportunities for advancement as gastronomy. Querfeld: "The world is open to you." And the premium apprenticeship is designed to give young people an understanding of this. This enables apprentices to acquire interesting additional qualifications in cooperating companies during their apprenticeship.

For example, a coffee house apprentice can spend a few days gaining knowledge in a bar, pressing olive oil in Greece, getting a taste of a cheese sommelier or learning more about beer in a brewery. Erasmus programs are used for the experience abroad, and neither the apprentices nor the companies should incur any costs.

Expansion to other sectors
The pilot project currently applies to apprentices at Viennese coffee houses, and interested parties are still being sought. If the premium apprenticeship is successful, it will be extended to other sectors, according to project manager Brunner-Strobl.

All information about the Premium Apprenticeship can be found here.