London and the South East have the highest turnover rate of chefs, with 40 per cent leaving their jobs over the year, a survey by the Hospitality Training Foundation published this week has found. In its report, Skills and Employment Forecasts 2000, the HTF revealed that turnover among restaurant chefs is also high in the South West, with a rate of 35 per cent. A high turnover of waiting staff was also found in the South East, with two-thirds of waiting staff leaving their jobs over the course of a year. The report says, “The shortage of chefs has been highlighted as particularly worrying. Job-hopping seems to have reached unprecedented levels and is affecting the industry negatively.”
By Lisa Bratby