Olha Nasonova, an expert in the restaurant business: Restaurants are starting less and less due to a lack of staff

Photo: FB Olga Nasonova

In August 2025, requirements for crossing the state border were relaxed in Ukraine: young men aged 18-22 were allowed to leave the country without hindrance. The experts immediately spoke about the migration of young people from the state and the negative impact on the labor market, in particular on the hotel and restaurant industry.

Is this really so, is the restaurant sector facing a crisis, and what is happening in this area now? About this journalist Briefly about talked with by the director of the company “Restaurant Consulting” Olga Nasonova

About the lack of personnel – When they mention the impact on the labor market, analysts primarily predict a lack of specialists in the hotel and restaurant business and retail trade, where there is a significant number of young workers. Can it be said that after the easing of the conditions of departure, the industry will face a shortage of bartenders, waiters, and salespeople? How complicated is the situation?

– Not critical, but a lot depends on the type of institution and location. First of all, coffee shops, where a young contingent traditionally works, complain about the lack of workers. The coffee business grew for several years in a row, took on young workers without skills, and quickly trained them, which is why there is an average turnover of 20%.

– How does the situation change depending on the location?

– In the center of Ukraine and large cities, migration is lower, at the level of 10-15%. In premium restaurants, no changes have been felt at all: firstly, it is very rare to find staff of such a young age, and secondly, earnings are quite high. The income of a waiter, together with bonuses, can reach 1.5-2 thousand dollars per month – they don’t get fired from such places just like that.

At the same time, in the west of Ukraine, the migration of workers in the restaurant sector reaches 30%. In my opinion, this is connected with the “traditions of labor migration”: many Ukrainians from the western part of the country have family members working abroad, and it is easier for them to dare to move, since they are not going anywhere.

– You have been talking for a long time about the fact that there are fewer and fewer people who can and want to work in the restaurant industry. Why?

– The main problem is the narrowing of the base for choosing employees, and this problem began even during the covid era. When restaurants shut down during the pandemic, many employees tried their hand at other areas, and they succeeded. They have not returned to public catering.

Later, a full-scale war began, women began to leave. Those who worked as cooks in restaurants easily found a job in their specialty in a new place even without knowing the language.

There is a noticeable outflow of confectioners from the state, most of whom are women. Confectioners can make a profit in any country without knowing the language, which they do successfully. And replacing them on the market with new specialists is not easy, because learning this skill takes several years.

Thus, it turned out that over the past 5 years, the base for hiring employees in the restaurant industry has halved. There are rare cases when new establishments cannot open simply because a team is not formed. Even well-known chain establishments look for employees for new branches for months.

Coffee shops, where a young contingent works, primarily complain about the lack of workers. Photo: FB Olga Nasonova

About salary – If vacancies are closed more slowly, obviously, it would be logical to increase workers’ wages?

– Wages in HoReCa (hospitality and public catering industry. – Author) have been increasing throughout the war. For comparison: if before the full-scale war a cook received UAH 800-900 per shift, now it is UAH 1900-2000 per shift. And this is taking into account that prices in restaurants increased by 40-50% during this period, that is, prices do not keep up with the increase in wages of employees and the increase in the price of products.

Professionals in this field are attracted not only by salary increases, but also by a tolerant attitude to various “sins”: from being late to not showing up for work. If fired for any shortcomings, no one will work.

– There is an opinion that businesses that, wanting to avoid paying taxes, paid salaries in an envelope and hired “more compliant” youth…

– The restaurant business is probably the most “people-dependent”, that is, a very large number of people work here. For example, to ensure the operation of a restaurant with 100 seats, 30-50 people are needed. For comparison, two people will be needed in the IT business, which will generate approximately the same funds or even more per month, and four in the energy industry.

Robot cooks never appeared, and screen-screens for orders are only suitable for fast food and do not solve the situation. A large number of people are needed to operate a restaurant – in the kitchen, in the hall, for cleaning, washing dishes, etc. And the more people are needed, the greater the probability that many will be missing.

As for official salaries, they have never been a priority in a business where tips and kickbacks are common. Although employers face a large fine for an illegal employee in the workplace, many workers are not connected to employers by “official relations”, and even future pensions are of no interest to anyone. It is important to receive funds here and now, and not social benefits in the future. People come here with a clear understanding of how much they want to receive per month (per week, per day) and declare the amount without any shame.

Restaurateurs benefit from official registration, because illegal workers feel “free” to a certain extent: they may not come to work without calling, or even disappear altogether.

For the sake of fairness, it must be said that this also happens to registered employees who can disappear without even taking away their documents. For example, when the “law 18-22” was adopted, some people called already from abroad. Therefore, part of the restaurants were unexpectedly left without workers.

Today, Ukrainian institutions have quite flexible and favorable conditions for employees. Photo: FB Olga Nasonova

About working conditions and prospects – Have working conditions in the restaurant business become more loyal? Do flexible shifts, part-time work apply?

– In most restaurants, I would call the conditions p moderately flexible. For example, establishments open later and close earlier. For example, in Kyiv you can work until 11:00 p.m., but many close at 10:00 p.m. so that people can get home before the curfew begins. And if employees are detained, they will have to pay for a taxi. And a taxi in the evening costs so much money that it eats up all possible additional profit from an extra hour of work.

However, of course, a lot depends on the value of a particular employee, and for the most valuable, they offer not only loyal conditions, but arrange “dances with tambourines”. And it’s not only mobile phone payments, uniforms and health insurance, but also corporate parties, expensive birthday gifts, free vacations, etc.

– If there is not enough young people, employers can look for “alternative” sources of employees. For example, hiring people 50+. In the same Europe, “aged” waiters are a common phenomenon.

– In the countries of the former socialist camp – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary – young people mostly work as waiters, bartenders and even cooks. This is due to many reasons: the restaurant business has been developing for a relatively short time, there are practically no establishments with a centuries-old history, and the work of a waiter is not considered prestigious. In addition, running a shift on your feet for 10 hours with heavy dishes, and often up and down stairs, is not for everyone. Therefore, it is mainly a temporary job for students and young people who have not yet found themselves, but do not plan to make a career and develop in the restaurant business.

In Central and Western Europe, the situation is completely different. Let’s start with the fact that there are many family businesses here, where parents, children, aunts and uncles and even grandparents work. They don’t want money to leave the family, and they don’t take anyone from strangers. Not only is it expensive, but you can’t get rid of it so easily afterwards.

Another important point concerns the fact that many restaurants have been operating for 50 or even 100 years. That is, a person came to work at the age of 20 and can really work in one restaurant all his life and retire from there. And this is not the same as working for 40 years as an engineer, and at 60 going to work as a waiter.

In Kyiv, for example, we have the Pervak ​​restaurant, which opened in the early 2000s. And when I come there, I often see the same waiters as 25 years ago, they really have worked there all their lives. Longtime regulars love it.

In Ukraine, as in other Eastern European countries, waiters and cooks are mainly young people. Photo: FB Olga Nasonova

– At the beginning of our conversation, you said that today the situation after the departure of young people is not critical. And what do you see as the prospects for the industry if the outflow continues?

– I would not be talking about the industry here, but about Ukrainian demography as a whole.

Just the other day, I read from a blogger that the mobilization age in Ukraine will be reduced to 23. In my opinion, such irresponsible and unsubstantiated statements greatly worsen the situation and “kick out” from the state those who did not even think about migration. Therefore, I think, more will leave. It is doubly sad that for every young man who left, as a rule, one or two other people leave: his girlfriend and mother (sister, aunt, etc.) to organize his life, because many of them are not completely independent.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the period from 17 to 24 years is a period of formation for people: it is the age of building friendships and love relationships, the beginning of a career and family life. And if all this happens to a person in another state, with a high probability he will remain there.

In the long run, this is compounded by the outflow of people who have not yet been born today. Young people in other countries will have children, and returning will become even more problematic.

So, in the long term, the situation for Ukrainian demography looks, unfortunately, very pessimistic. I hope the restaurant business can handle it.

To serve 100 guests in a restaurant, 30-50 employees are needed. Photo: FB Olga Nasonova

Source: kp.ua