{"id":11280,"date":"2026-04-01T14:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.findportugal.pt\/a-crise-da-restauracao-quando-falta-mais-do-que-mao-de-obra\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T18:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:23:38","slug":"the-crisis-in-hospitality-when-whats-missing-isnt-just-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.findportugal.pt\/en\/the-crisis-in-hospitality-when-whats-missing-isnt-just-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"The crisis in hospitality: When what\u2019s missing isn\u2019t just staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

By<\/em>\u00a0 \u00c1lvaro Reis<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

There is a tension running through restaurant kitchens today. Not just the rise in costs, nor the relentless pace of service. Something deeper is unfolding, a structural shift that cannot be solved by higher wages or shorter hours alone. Hospitality is losing people. But, more critically, it is losing its culture.<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11274″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Hospitality is losing people. But, more critically, it is losing its culture.” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:26|text_align:left|line_height:1.5″ google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1775064605478{margin-right: 100px !important;margin-left: 100px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Portugal at a breaking point<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The phenomenon began during the pandemic, but it has since become structural.<\/p>\n

In Spain, according to data cited by trade unions such as Comisiones Obreras, more than 70,000 workers left the sector in just a few years. In France and Italy, the pattern is familiar: a shortage of chefs, a lack of waiting staff, and growing difficulty in building stable teams.<\/p>\n

Portugal is no exception. If anything, the impact feels sharper here, in a country where hospitality is not merely an industry, but a cultural expression.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1775065966129{margin-right: 100px !important;margin-left: 100px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

A European problem, a Portuguese reality<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve, the same story unfolds: full dining rooms, record tourism, and kitchens under constant strain.<\/p>\n

The paradox is hard to ignore.
\nPeople are dining out more than ever, yet it has never been harder to sustain a team.<\/p>\n

Chef Jos\u00e9 Avillez has noted in several interviews that the real challenge today is no longer creativity or concept, but people management. Speaking to Expresso<\/em>, he stressed that \u201cteams must be nurtured as carefully as any gastronomic project with time, investment and vision\u201d.<\/p>\n

Henrique S\u00e1 Pessoa has similarly argued for greater professionalisation and the creation of sustainable career paths, in an interview with P\u00fablico (Fugas)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And perhaps most direct is Jo\u00e3o Rodrigues, who warns:
\n\u201cIf we lose the connection to people, to the team, the producer, the guest, we lose everything.\u201d<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11238″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

A structural failure: the undervaluation of the craft<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At the core of the issue lies a long-standing cultural bias.<\/p>\n

Hospitality was never truly regarded as a career of choice.
\nFor decades, the message was implicit, yet clear:
\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t go to university, you end up working in a restaurant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That perception still lingers.<\/p>\n

Spanish chef Pedro S\u00e1nchez (Bag\u00e1), quoted in El Pa\u00eds<\/em>, captures the issue succinctly: vocational training was systematically undervalued, creating a generational gap that is now painfully evident.<\/p>\n

In Portugal, despite the efforts of hospitality schools, public perception has yet to catch up with the sector\u2019s sophistication and demands.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”120px”][vc_custom_heading text=”\u201cIf a job only gives you a salary at the end of the month, it makes you a slave.\u201d” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:26|text_align:left|line_height:1.5″ google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic” css=”.vc_custom_1775064795269{margin-right: 30px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20|text_align:left|line_height:1.5″ google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1775047131129{margin-right: 30px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_single_image image=”11241″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Beyond wages: a question of purpose<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The debate is often reduced to pay and working hours. Necessary, certainly but insufficient.<\/p>\n

What many European chefs now emphasise is purpose.<\/p>\n

Andoni Luis Aduriz puts it plainly:
\n\u201cIf a job only gives you a salary at the end of the month, it makes you a slave.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Hospitality has always required commitment.
\nBut today, that commitment must be matched by personal growth, a sense of belonging, and a clear sense of direction.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11245″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The loss of identity: from kitchen to scale<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A more subtle and potentially irreversible, shift is also taking place.<\/p>\n

Hospitality is drifting away from its essence.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the sector has undergone a profound transformation: the rise of chains, scalable concepts, and experiences designed for replication.<\/p>\n

At the same time, countless small portuguese establishments have disappeared, family-run restaurants, neighbourhood tascas, modest spaces where food was simple, honest and personal.<\/p>\n

Part of this change was inevitable. Increased regulation, higher standards and greater professionalisation brought important improvements. But they also introduced higher costs, bureaucracy and financial pressure.<\/p>\n

Many of these small, family-run businesses, once sustained by proximity and modest margins, could not keep up.<\/p>\n

And so they closed.<\/p>\n

These were the places of memory: where the owner knew your name, where food tasted like home, where time moved differently.<\/p>\n

Today, they have often been replaced by concepts that are more eficiente, but also more impersonal.<\/p>\n

As tourism expanded and foreign investment flowed in, projects designed for scale and profitability multiplied. Franchising became dominant in many urban areas.<\/p>\n

And, gradually, something essential began to fade: comfort food, home cooking, local identity.<\/p>\n

In many cases, gastronomy became product.
\nBut true gastronomy was never just that.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”120px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Without identity, there is no connection.
\nWithout connection, no commitment.
\nWithout commitment, no retention.” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:26|text_align:left|line_height:1.5″ google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_single_image image=”11249″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Without identity, there is no belonging<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This transformation has a direct impact on teams.<\/p>\n

Working in a restaurant shifts from a creative endeavour to a process.<\/p>\n

Without identity, there is no connection.
\nWithout connection, no commitment.
\nWithout commitment, no retention.<\/p>\n

And this is where the crisis becomes self-perpetuating.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11277″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The way forward: train, engage, humanise<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If there is one word that runs through every testimony, it is this: training.<\/p>\n

But not merely technical training.<\/p>\n

To train is to: pass on the craft, build culture, transmit passion, provide contexto and, ultimately, humanise the experience.<\/p>\n

Chef Nacho Manzano (Casa Marcial) acknowledges that many professionals will only stay for a limited time and accepts it, provided they leave more skilled, more aware, and more passionate than when they arrived.<\/p>\n

That is the real shift.<\/p>\n

In Portugal, a new generation of projects is beginning to embrace this approach: more intimate experiences, closer service, smaller and more engaged teams, flatter hierarchies, stronger relationships with producers, and a greater balance between professional and personal life.<\/p>\n

They are still the exception.
\nBut they point towards a different future.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”500px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Training means: teaching the trade, fostering a culture, instilling passion, providing context, and making the experience more human.” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:26|text_align:left|line_height:1.5″ google_fonts=”font_family:Playfair%20Display%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_single_image image=”11254″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

A sector in transition and an opportunity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The crisis in hospitality is not merely a problem.
\nIt is a turning point.<\/p>\n

An opportunity to redefine what it means to work in this sector, to restore the value of the craft, and to recover the human dimension of gastronomy.<\/p>\n

Because, ultimately, and this may be the most important point, people do not return to a restaurant solely for the food.<\/p>\n

They return for the experience.
\nAnd that experience begins with the people who make it possible.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hospitality in Portugal and across Europe faces a structural crisis. Beyond labour shortages, the sector is losing identity, culture and human connection. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe crisis in hospitality: When what\u2019s missing isn\u2019t just staff - Find Portugal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hospitality in Portugal and across Europe faces a structural crisis. 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