After several years of having difficulty finding qualified staff for various roles within restaurants, especially qualified chefs, Liseberg is now taking a drastic step. In the spring of 2023, Liseberg’s own cooking school will start — an education that turns amateurs into professional chefs on paid work time.
As part of securing the supply of skills, Liseberg decided in autumn 2022 to start its own chef training. In March 2023, the first 15 students will start their education.
The 15 trainee participants receive permanent employment from the first day of training and will continue to work at one of Liseberg’s restaurants after completing the training.
“We believe that the salary and job security that we offer during the education will be a door opener for many who want to make a career change, but who cannot or do not want to live on student loans. Our hope is that with this arrangement we reach new target groups who dream of working with food full-time,” says Robert Hagsten, Rector of Liseberg’s Academy.
The training will also be a way to support and develop careers for people who may already be working in the restaurant industry today, but in less qualified positions. The requirements placed on a trainee at Liseberg’s chef training are high, but then it is a matter of requirements for interest, attitude and willingness to work — not previous experience or formal education.
In the training, the trainees are offered a base year and then a build-up year. The training consists of both theory and practical teaching in Liseberg’s kitchens as well as practice outside in Liseberg’s restaurant operations. The trainee program will follow the national vocational package of upper secondary school courses for aspiring chefs.
“It is important that the education we offer maintains a high quality and is viable for our participants, even if they later choose to move on in their careers outside Liseberg’s gates. This program is an investment not only in Liseberg’s competence supply, but in an industry that is grappling with major challenges,” says Hagsten.
The benefits of having highly competent kitchen staff are also found in the quality and environmental area.
“The higher the competence of Liseberg’s kitchen staff, the higher the quality of the food and of the daily sustainability work in the kitchens. With qualified staff, raw material waste is reduced and production can go from whole and semi-finished products to cooked from scratch — something that benefits both the guest’s experience and Liseberg’s finances,” says Hagsten.
Liseberg’s Academy is a new unit within Liseberg’s People & Culture function. The ambition of the academy is to be a base for all service-oriented education that Liseberg offers. The training will primarily focus on the shortfalls in areas where Liseberg’s needs are great. The launch of its own cooking school is the academy’s first step on a journey where Liseberg creates social benefit in combination with solving a concrete need within the company.
