Is the chef interested?

I don’t know how long ago it was said that there was no future as a chef. As a chef for more than 20 years, I have a deep understanding. After the 1980s and the late 1990s, I did not study well, so I graduated from junior high school and entered the ranks of chefs. I remember that learning to be a chef was quite popular in the 1990s. The elders said that if you learn a craft, you will not have to worry about food all your life. If you join a factory, you will not have the security when you are older, so you started your career as a chef.

When I first became an apprentice, I felt that people who became masters had quite a lot of status. At that time, no one had mobile phones, and even the shop owners didn’t have them. Shop owners relied on connections to introduce people to them. If you wanted to learn to be a chef, you had to have an acquaintance. You have to introduce it, and even treat it to others, otherwise others will think you are not familiar with it and no one will guide you. During the apprenticeship period, of course, you do the most work and get the lowest salary. Some even get no salary, and you also get living expenses from home every month. Even so, there are still a large number of junior high school students and high school students joining the chef industry. The 1990s can be said to be the golden age of the chef profession. Due to poor information, recruitment and employment were not so convenient for catering companies, which created a large number of kitchen contractors. In that era, many kitchens were outsourced, and several contractors were hired at the same time. There are many people working in the kitchen, and some people come to hang out every month on the day when wages are paid. I feel that being a part-timer is more prestigious than being a boss. You don’t have to go to work all day long, you can take on jobs everywhere, and there is no risk at all. With a salary that is many times higher than that of ordinary people, being a chef has a bright future.

Times have changed. With the development of society and the emergence of the Internet, today’s master-servant relationship no longer relies on introductions from acquaintances. Recruiting people can be done by searching on their mobile phones. The employment method has changed from the original contracting method. It has become a one-person job. In recent years, I have never heard of a master who hires several kitchens at the same time. He just goes there on the day when wages are paid every month and is done. Today, with the highly developed Internet, the wages in the industry have already increased. Breaking through the ceiling, taking the current market situation as an example, if a store owner wants to recruit a skilled chef, it will basically only cost 8,000 yuan at most. Those who can earn more than 10,000 yuan are very few. If you look at the group of chefs, you will see that a large number of them have done it. People who have been working for more than ten years or even more than 20 years have not had a monthly income of more than 10,000 yuan. With the economic downturn in the general environment, a large number of restaurants have closed and chefs have lost their jobs. Young chefs can enter factories. As for the older ones, there are older ones. Everyone says that being a boss is stressful. Here I would like to say that chefs at the bottom are even more stressed. If a chef has no job or income, it will be a problem for him to eat. Although a number of stores have closed down, it has not affected the problem of eating. A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Many chefs cannot bear it after being unemployed for several months. Being a boss will only hurt their skin but not their muscles. Many chefs feel confused, hopeless and helpless. The chef profession has long hours, low wages, and little monthly rest. The labor contract, five insurances and one fund are just a dream for many chefs. Almost 90% of the catering industry does not have labor contracts, five insurances and one fund. In order to survive, you have to hold on.

As times change, many types of jobs disappear and new types of jobs appear. How should chefs go about their career? In the current context, where should chefs go? There is really no future for being a chef. I can’t see it. Do you have hope?

The so-called never forget the original intention, the original intention has never changed, and there is a long way to go to promote delicious food.