More and more people are looking abroad for that certain fence made of sausage and choosing the path of leaving Hungary to try their luck in the big world. But the fabled lad with the ash-fired scones may often be wrong. A labour shortages, emigration is a fact, but it is not new in gastronomy. It is more a question of whether it is worth it or not. We sought answers to this question from professionals who have been working abroad for many years.
Migration is a complex issue
People who work abroad can make a good living, that's a fact. But it's a different question when you start to dissect the issue of whether it's worth it. There is also the question of what level of education is needed to enter the world, as wages can jump by orders of magnitude with a higher level of education. The field in which you start working is also important, as is the fact that you live abroad or commute. There are many aspects to this issue. Of course, we have narrowed it down to hospitality, a sector that has been hit everywhere by Covid and is still being forced to make cuts in economic factors.
Chef Viktor Segal, gastro expert
During his career, he quickly learned about hospitality abroad. In the beginning, he worked for Hilton, then for the Intercontinental Hotel, and was also posted abroad. He grew up in five-star hotels and French restaurants. He has visited several Michelin-star restaurants in Lyon, Amsterdam. As a member of the elite chef elite in his home country, he is still involved in many projects in this country.
„I have been doing a lot of work abroad for many years. In my opinion, the basic attitude is that it can be successful abroad who would be successful at home. Someone who is hard-working, open-minded and eager to learn. What I have noticed is that Hungarian chefs working abroad no longer take things lightly. The attitude has changed in a positive direction, for many reasons. On the one hand, many of them went abroad when they were young and there is now a generation that has learned to work and has picked up the pace dictated by foreign countries. For another, many have stayed out, even started families and are living abroad.
Whether you work on the coast or in the Tyrol, work is work everywhere. Only with serious attention can you actually earn a good living. If someone asks me for advice on this, I always tell them to go out, see the world, experience more aspects of the profession. But if after a while you don't get ahead and earn as much as the locals, or even more, then there's no point in staying out there. If you're already away from home, if you're taking time out of your life to do this, then at least study, work in a place where you can develop and thrive.
Money is not everything
If someone is only motivated by the material part, it may not work. Years go by, careers don't develop, and financially you can't earn orders of magnitude more to make it worthwhile in my opinion. You can make a good living, but no one is going to make a houseful in a few years. Another thing to mention is that there are also a lot of exciting projects in gastronomy in Hungary, and I am not talking about the money, but about the professional side.
If you know what you want, you know what you want find a job. In Europe as a whole, we can see that there is a shortage of professionals. The question is rather at what level. Where I work now, in Barcelona, we are also looking for a a serious man in the kitchen. So there is a workforce, but they are also looking abroad for competent professionals, and I'm not just talking about the kitchen”.
Dániel Kiss, Commercial Director of Matusz-Vad Zrt. in Austria
Before joining us in 2019, she worked in hospitality for nearly 10 years. Starting from the ground up, he worked as a sous chef in several renowned restaurants. Since 2020, he has been based in Austria, so he has a good overview of the segment and the issues it faces.
„In Austria, restaurants have become very comfortable with a secure guest base. They thought they were perfectly happy with the menu that had been in place for many years, and they didn't update or innovate. They have not improved on a large scale. There were so many retired people, for example, who were a lifelong restaurant-goer, and so they didn't innovate in any way, and then Covid changed everything. In fact, the customers they were expecting ran out, and there was a generational shift. What is interesting is that about 6,000 units have closed in Austria so far, which means that there are price increases there as well. Obviously not to the same extent in relation to real wages as in our country, so there is not a vacuum then, but people are feeling it.
It's not only at home that people are price-sensitive
It's not that people don't have money, it's that they're very careful about what they spend it on. What is common is the lack of professionals. Those who live near the border still find it worthwhile to commute to work, even from 80 kilometres away, because they get subsidies - we are talking about commuters, of course. Those who try their luck from further away, so they have to stay there, may not be worth it.
Salaries outside are good enough to earn a good living, but not enough to build an existence on. What is certain, however, is that good professionals are valued and sought after. You have to be prepared for a lot of people trying to make it abroad, Asians, Turks, Romanians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, etc... who are taking the jobs and trying to get more and more restaurants.
Ákos Horváth, chef
Ákos Horváth came to Germany at a young age, through his father, after graduating from high school in catering, and was immediately plunged into the gastronomic deep end. He had the opportunity to work with Christian Jürgens (3 Michelin stars) and Harald Wohlfahrt (3 Michelin stars). After managing the kitchens of the Bavarian National Bank, he set up a catering employment agency, which helped almost 1,000 people find work between 2009 and early 2011. Since then, he has managed kitchens in various restaurants and hotels abroad.
„What I see is that it's getting more and more deplorable. I love what I do, but I don't see the future. I've been working in German for almost 38 years now, full-time. Everyone I'm in contact with - in any segment of gastronomy - is complaining. Traditions are being discarded, restaurants that have been operating for generations are closing. And gourmet gastronomy has a very narrow cross-section. There are simply no people to work. Restaurateurs have changed profiles in the hope of making a better living. And those who come out to work when they are young, mostly just for the financial aspect, find after six months to a year that they can earn more as a postman or grocery shop than as a caterer. In English, they come out and change their profile.
There is not enough professionals anywhere
I will say one surprising thing that will slowly become a trend. Recently in Munich, I was in a soup kitchen that specialises in supplying food to restaurants. As they don't have the capacity, the „people” to cook, they simply deliver their menu requirements to this kitchen and cook it there. It can also be done by the restaurant submitting the recipe and preparing the food based on that. It's almost like back-up kitchens in the catering industry. I never thought in my career that I would experience something like this at the restaurant level.
I'll even tell you a very serious fact that I know first hand. In Tyrol, in 2023, a total of 23 chef apprentices graduated from school. I had one where I took over a kitchen and they brought in a forklift driver and a driver to work there. The explanation was that that's the way it is, but at least there are people. It's a scandalous situation outside. The scary thing is that even hotels and restaurants that are completely full of guests are struggling. The money that can be made now no longer covers the needs that make many people come out. It is because of the rising cost of everyday living. So why come out?! The way I see it, working abroad is no longer an option in gastronomy, if you look at the financial aspect alone.
It's always worthwhile for young chefs to see the world and learn. It is the only way to gain life-changing experience and knowledge. The unanimous opinion of the contributors was that you have to work hard abroad, and that emigration does not always pay off in terms of money. Working abroad in hospitality is worthwhile for those who see it as a career. Financial prosperity is not as bright as one might think.
