EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope, adopted a joint declaration on 29 September addressing the persistent and worsening labour shortages affecting the contract catering sector across Europe.

Shared view
Social partners agree that labour and skills shortages are one of the main challenges facing the contract catering sector. Strengthening the attractiveness of the sector requires attractive career prospects, opportunities for skills development, good working environments and attractive working conditions. Given the sector’s strong dependence on public procurement, the design and award of public contracts also have a direct impact on employment conditions, investment capacity, and skills development.

Shared proposals
EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope jointly propose a set of concrete measures to reverse this trend:

• Reforming public procurement: Contract catering must be fully covered by the new public procurement rules to become a genuine lever for quality job creation, moving away from lowest-price toward frameworks that actively promote collective bargaining agreements.
• Strengthening social dialogue and collective bargaining: Robust social dialogue and collective bargaining are essential to securing wages and working conditions that meet the expectations of both employers and workers, while enhancing the sector’s overall attractiveness.
• Investing in education and training: Upskilling and reskilling are critical to making the sector more attractive, building meaningful career paths, and preparing the workforce for changes driven by digitalisation and AI, ensuring a just transition for all.
• Ensuring fair labour mobility: EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope support fair and transparent recruitment practices, alongside measures to prevent abuse and exploitation and to guarantee the effective protection and enforcement of workers’ rights.

With this declaration, EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope call on the EU institutions and national policymakers to join forces with social partners to implement these measures and urge them to address labour shortages in contract catering both on the regulatory and social dialogue fronts.

Read EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope’s Joint Declaration on How to Overcome Labour and Skills Shortages in the Contract Catering Sector