Apprenticeship numbers are plummeting
In 1980 there were still 102,051 apprentices throughout Austria in the trades and crafts sector, where the bakers are also based, in 2021 there were only 46,874. In Carinthia, only twenty apprentices per year decide to take up this profession. “The tendency is clearly downwards,” explains Vallant in an interview with the “Krone”. On the other hand, the figures for the apprenticeship of confectioner, which is closely related to that of baker, remain stable. “80 apprentices start in this job every year.” For Vallant, these figures are partly based on a misunderstanding, because: “Most people think that as a baker you only have to work at night, but that’s just not true anymore.” More and more bakeries are converting their operations to daily production.
Topic of the day – Bakers in crisis: who will bake our bread?
