You probably don't need us to tell you that your salary as a chef has seen little change on last year, but at least you are not alone.
The cause, according to Derren Strowger, senior consultant at recruitment firm Berkeley Scott Chefs, hasn't changed either. "Employers are still being careful after the war in Iraq last year," he explains. "There are good salaries out there, but people need to prove their worth."
Those of you in managerial chef positions will find that your employers are rewarding you in different ways. Incentives, such as monthly or quarterly bonuses, are being paid when either the business or the chef performs particularly well. Ironically, this shows employers are looking after your jobs: if there is another world economic crisis they don't have the burden of large salaries - they can simply cut bonuses rather than slash jobs.
For the rest of you, the best places to find better pay if you are talented and ambitious are - as always - the five-star hotels. For instance, a chef de partie can expect to earn about £20,000 a year in a five-star operation, compared with £17,000 in one with four-stars.
Strowger says that the conference sector also offers better salaries, probably because it serves the wealthy corporate market.
He warns, however, that although contract catering has a reputation for paying well, this isn't true of all sectors within it. The benefit, though, is that contract catering offers chefs more sociable hours, and Strowger says they can - and do - often boost their salaries by working weekends and evenings.
On the bright side, chefs are always in demand. The perennial skills shortage at the junior level is forcing employers to plug the gap with eager recruits from new EU countries and Asia. Although these workers tend to have lower salary expectations, Tony Aylward, operations director hotels at Berkeley Scott, stresses it will not push salaries down further. "It's an initiative to help employers find chefs with one, two or three years' experience - they are in such short supply."
At the top end, the market is competitive and vigorous. "There are lots of very strong senior candidates," Strowger says, "and a lot of jobs are going through word of mouth."
Even so, head chefs, like their employers, are being more cautious after the events of last year. "They are holding on to their jobs for dear life," Strowger says. "Last year showed them how fragile things could be and they need to be 150% sure that they are going to a better job before they move."
Salary snapshot
|
Commis |
Chef de partie |
Pastry chef |
Sous chef |
Head chef |
| Themed/branded restaurant |
£11-12,000 |
£15-16,000 |
£16,000 |
£18-20,000 |
£22-36,000 |
| Guide-recognised restaurant |
£12,000 |
£18-20,000 |
£23-32,000 |
£23-33,000 |
£30-65,000 |
| Pubs |
£10,000 |
£13-15,000 |
NA |
£18-20,000 |
£22-25,000 |
| Contract catering |
£11-12,000 |
£14-18,000 |
£18-22,000 |
£18-26,000 |
£24-36,000 |
| Hotels |
£11-12,000 |
£16-19,000 |
£22-38,000 |
£25-40,000 |
£32-100,000 |