Why We Only Do Temporary Chef Recruitment (And Not Permanent)

At Chefs Jobs UK, we specialise in recruiting relief chefs for the hospitality and catering industry. You might be wondering why we don’t offer permanent jobs for chefs, and this is actually a very deliberate decision we’ve made. 

Read on to find out why we don’t do permanent chef recruitment and specialise in placing temporary chefs.

How does traditional permanent recruitment work?

Let’s start by explaining how permanent recruitment usually works, and why we’ve decided not to do it for chefs.

Traditionally, agencies will offer both temporary and permanent recruitment solutions to kitchens or other industries, like our sister company Cummins Mellor does in a range of sectors.

An employer will approach an agency because they need someone to fill a role, and the agency finds a selection of candidates for them to interview.

Then, they choose who to hire and pay the agency a percentage fee of the new employee’s salary - typically, between 15% and 20% of the annual salary.

This fee can vary from around £3,000 to £20,000 depending on the job and salary. 

When a new hire stays in a role long-term, this is a good investment - the hiring manager saves a lot of time and hassle finding the perfect person for the job.

There will then be a six-week rebate period, during which the employer gets their money back if the placement doesn’t work out. 

What’s different about recruiting for the hospitality industry?

Things work a bit differently in the hospitality industry from our experience.

Chefs move around, that's the nature of the beast - and it's not always a negative reason why they leave an employer.

It’s not always 'somebody's fault' - sites are competing against each other to entice the best people and a chef may just see what they deem to be a better offer elsewhere and decide to move on. 

And it works both ways in this transient marketplace - sometimes, the employer might not feel the chef is right for their site.

If you work in the hospitality and catering industry, you’ll know some people hit the ground running and get on really well in a kitchen, while others move on within a couple of months.

The issue with this in terms of permanent recruitment?

Even though the chef hasn’t stayed in the role for long, the six-week rebate period for the recruitment fee has often expired by the time they leave. 

When this happens, it becomes an issue for everyone involved.

If you’re the employer, you’re annoyed you paid a fee and you’re left without a chef. 

As the agency, we can’t refund fees that goes beyond the rebate period, because we have a business to run, too.

Yet we run the risk of harming our relationship with the employer and losing out on future business if we don’t refund it as a goodwill gesture when the probation period is over.

Having a fee negotiation AFTER the placement is no fun for anyone. 

We don’t think it’s morally right to work this way for anyone involved, so we don’t.

The success of a placement depends on so many things, after all. 

Ethically, we just don’t think it’s the right thing to charge a standard recruitment fee and hold it when placements so often don’t work out long-term.

So what’s the solution?

The situation described above is exactly why we focus on relief chef recruitment only and it benefits everyone - chefs, site managers, and us. It’s what we do best and that’s the best for you, too.

We’ll find someone to come and solve a hospitality business’s problem in the short term.

As an employer, you get a highly experienced chef who is confident and competent going into kitchens and plugging a gap.

They don’t get too involved in team politics or ruffle any feathers - they come in and do the job that needs to be done then leave when it’s been done.

As a chef, you know you’re going into a kitchen that’s been pre-vetted and you have us to support you through any situation that may arise.

Do our temporary chefs ever become permanent at a site?

Sometimes, yes. There are occasions when we will work on what’s called a ‘temp to perm’ basis.

When we introduce a chef to a manager, they often like each other and it works well, so they start talking about continuing the working relationship on a permanent basis.

At that stage, we would then charge a permanent recruitment fee (again, a percentage of the agreed salary) for connecting them. 

We feel comfortable doing that because everyone involved is making a really informed decision and is happy with how things have worked out - it’s a ‘try before you buy’ situation. 

The only other type of permanent recruitment we would do is our Recruitment Lite package for site managers - scroll down or tap the link to read more about that.

The benefits of working with a specialist temp chef recruitment agency

Whether you’re a chef or you’re in charge of a site, hiring Chefs Jobs UK as your specialist temp chef recruitment agency benefits you.

By concentrating on temporary chef recruitment only, we can channel our energy into finding the best relief chefs out there and developing strong relationships with them to get them into the right kitchens and keep them in work.

Site managers know we’ll send high quality chefs who get the job done.

Relief chefs know we’ll place them in good workplaces where they’re valued and respected. 

We can spend time focusing on what makes a great relief chef and what makes a great placement, making sure we attract and keep the very best kitchens and chefs on our books and everyone is happy. 

Speak to us about temporary chef recruitment

Do you have a gap to fill in your kitchen and need someone to come in and get the job done with maximum quality and zero fuss?

Or are you a relief chef looking for your next placement (or interested in trying out the lifestyle for yourself after growing tired of the same kitchen)?

Our team of specialist temp chef recruiters is here to take your call. Get in touch on 01254 355 666 and let’s make it happen. 

Still NEED to FILL A permanent JOB BUT don’t want to use an agency?

One other option you have is our Recruitment Lite package - a cost-effective, hybrid option between doing everything yourself and outsourcing the entire process to an agency. 

Our experienced recruitment team will write and optimise your job advert for you, then you’ll have access to an online portal to post it yourself on all major job boards and manage all your applications in one handy place. 

We’ll even screen CVs so you only see suitable ones, as well as giving you access to email templates to accept and reject candidates with ease. You pay a one-off fee of £985+VAT per job listing, and you can even hire multiple chefs from that same job ad if you want to - it won’t cost you any extra.

Find out more here or speak to us about this service on 01254 355 666.