The restaurant chain Cock’s & Cows wants to prepare younger generations for a future in the restaurant industry. With their project “Young Stars”, they introduce the young inexperienced employees to the restaurant industry in a secure environment where they can build up the competences that the industry needs.
For many years, Danish law has made it difficult to employ young people in the restaurant industry. Changes to the restauration law made in 2017 have now given young people access to the kitchen floor, but the completely inexperienced staff need thorough training which means a huge investment from restaurants. 20 years ago, people could start up as dishwashers or bussers at the age of 13yrs and learn slowly, gradually taking on more responsibility and move into other jobs at the restaurant. The restaurant chain Cock’s & Cows would like to see this way-in make a comeback
“We believe that it is healthy to get out of the home and into working life, which is why we gladly welcome the new generation and show them what service is and why the restaurant industry is the best industry in the world”, says Maria Mulbjerg Thimsen, Administration, CSR and HR at Cock’s & Cows
Therefore Cock’s & Cows have started their “Young Stars” project. With this initiative, young people gain practical experience and at the same time learn about taking responsibility, working morale and how business works. This is beneficial both to the industry and employers:
“Our industry needs to make itself attractive again and attract young people. Many of them want to get a job and we would like to show them what our industry can do. We believe we have a fun and challenging workplace with many different qualities and learning processes that they can use in other contexts and in other industries”, says Maria Mulbjerg Thimsen
The young employees wear a special uniform which tells both the guests and colleagues that they are minors and inexperienced so that we ensure some level of tolerance if mistakes are made. For Cock’s & Cows it is about addressing their social responsibility and taking young people into consideration so that in they learn along the way that it is okay to make mistakes on the journey to mastering a task.
Cock’s & Cows are a part of REGA, a new industrywide initiative that works purposefully and ambitiously with corporate social responsibility. By participating in REGA, Cock’s & Cows commit to working systematically to prevent adverse impacts on our human rights, including those of employees, guests, and the general public, to reducing the adverse impacts on the environment and to sharpening the focus on anti-corruption.
