For the first time in the morning, a mild wind blows through the narrow streets of the old town.

Just before the holidays, a couple stroll arm in arm across the square in front of the café.

The tables are occupied just a few minutes after the shop opens.

Inside, Julian Ploch sits on a colorfully upholstered bench in front of his laptop.

He pushed his chin-length hair behind his ears.

Behind him, a plexiglass pane hangs from the ceiling on two thin ropes – the remnants of the crisis through which he has steered his café chain over the past two years.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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He is one of the managing directors of the coffee roasting company Hoppenworth & Ploch.

The company also operates three branches in Frankfurt.

For a few weeks now, it has been possible to drink cappuccino in them again without a mask and proof of vaccination.

They got used to the constant changes, says Ploch.

"You can't curl up and wait for the state to help you."

In lockdown, he implemented an idea he had before the pandemic.

Ploch wanted to sell coffee and cake out of a window.

The plans lay in the drawer for a long time, the employees were skeptical.

From one day to the next, they were only allowed to offer their goods “To Go”.

In order to implement their idea and other projects during the pandemic, the company took out a loan from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.

During the lockdown, window sales then brought them good profits.

Cautious spirit of optimism

The mood in the industry is cautious and optimistic again.

In a survey by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA), 59 percent of the operators stated that they were satisfied with the booking situation.

But the effects of the pandemic are still being felt.

In many places there is a lack of staff for the really big comeback.

"The service staff came through the crisis very badly," says Andrea Nadles, President of the Association of Service Specialists, Restaurant and Hotel Managers.

More than 665,000 hospitality workers went on short-time work at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.

When the companies had to close, many had reoriented their careers, says Nadles.

Former waiters now work, for example, as postal workers, in retail or in nursing.

“They are nimble, used to heavy towing and reliable.

Other industries have accepted the service staff with a kiss," says Nadles.

In conversations with her former colleagues, she has the feeling that around three quarters of them do not want to go back to their old jobs.

They would now have more regulated working hours and would not have to work on Sundays.

lack of employees

Many found it easy to switch to other professions because they did not feel valued even before the pandemic: "The lack of reputation of the profession affects many service staff personally," says Nadles.

She and her colleagues are often decried as “plate taxis”, and they have to complete a three-year apprenticeship.

During the pandemic, they were the ones who had to warn guests to comply with the mask requirement and distance rules.

It was not uncommon for those warned to become aggressive: "Then service staff are insulted because they are asking someone to obey the law," says Nadles.

A “sea of ​​dissatisfaction” would have settled over the industry during the pandemic.

That is now taking revenge, because in many places there are no employees for the restart.

300,000 jobs were cut in the hospitality industry during the pandemic, says Nadles.