“If an industry knows something about hygiene, then it's ours,” says Robert Mangold.

The managing director of the gastronomy in the Palmengarten and in the Tigerpalast, who is also a member of the state board of the branch association DEHOGA, speaks of a "special sacrifice" that hoteliers and restaurateurs should have made in the pandemic.

State aid would have ensured the survival of many companies, but the months-long closings meant that hardly any young people were interested in training in the industry.

Before the start of the pandemic, there were 800 applications for the five apprenticeship positions for event clerks in his company, but this year there were only 25. In the kitchen and pastry shop, the situation is similar, there are now eight vacant apprenticeship positions.

Patricia Andreae

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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That was also the reason why the head of the regional employment office, Frank Martin, presented the labor market report with a clearly positive trend for the past month on Thursday in the palm garden.

“The pandemic hit the hospitality industry in particular.

At the peak, every sixth job was lost there, ”said Martin.

Unemployment fell for the sixth time in a row

"Many have lost confidence in the industry," said Mangold. But he is sure that the hospitality industry will continue to be successful and attractive in the future. And skilled workers are urgently needed. The number of registered training positions fell by 5.8 percent to 31,400. Around 11,000 unsupported applicants were compared to 12,000 vacant training positions. While the DGB Hessen-Thuringia renewed its demand for a training guarantee for young people, which could be financed by contributions, the employers refer to the vacancies in rural areas. Dirk Pollert from the Association of Hessian Entrepreneurs' Associations pointed out that it is often easier to find jobs and apprenticeships as well as cheaper apartments outside the big cities.

Frank Martin also confirmed this. Unemployment in rural areas is about the same as it was before Corona, while it was still increased by 1.5 percentage points in the cities. As in the previous month, the national average is 5.1 percent, which means that the usual increase during vacation time has not materialized. This was the sixth year in a row that unemployment fell. With around 176,600 job seekers as of July 13th, there are 1,100 fewer than a month earlier. The number of employees subject to social security contributions has increased by 25,500 compared to 2020 and has reached the pre-crisis level.

The trend can also be observed in Frankfurt, but the usual seasonal increase in July did not completely fail to appear there. "In view of the ongoing exceptional situation, the current seasonal rise in unemployment has fortunately been very small," said Stephanie Krömer, head of the Frankfurt employment agency, and at the same time warned: "I very much hope that the current easing of the overall economic situation will continue and continue the tide does not turn again in the autumn months. "