Hospitality wages are falling behind: how to stay an attractive employer anyway
While a construction worker's payslip is getting noticeably thicker this year, your cook's stays roughly flat. Dutch hospitality cao wages rose just 2.9% in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest increase of any business sector, while construction and specialized business services led with 5.0% (CBS, Statistics Netherlands, 2026). You feel that as an owner every time a vacancy gets harder to fill. This article looks at what's driving the gap, and which levers still keep you an attractive employer when you can't fully close it on salary.
Key takeaways
- Dutch hospitality cao wages rose 2.9% in Q3 2026, the lowest of any business sector; construction and specialized business services rose 5.0% (CBS, 2026).
- Over 30% of Dutch hospitality owners faced a staff shortage in Q2 2026, against 28,100 open vacancies (Ondernemersplein/CBS, 2026).
- 35% of hospitality staff name flexible hours as a key reason to stay with an employer (NEA 2024, via ABN AMRO).
- The Dutch zero-hours contract is being phased out in 2026 in favor of a banded-hours contract, making schedules more predictable for staff.
- Can't move on salary? Scheduling clarity, communication and room to develop are what decide whether staff stay or leave.
Hospitality wages are falling behind: what's happening in the labor market
Dutch cao wages rose 4.0% on average in the third quarter of 2026, but hospitality lagged well behind at 2.9%, the lowest increase of any business sector (CBS, Statistics Netherlands, 2026). Construction and specialized business services rose fastest, at 5.0%, followed by financial services at 4.9%.
The hospitality cao itself explains part of why. Pay grades I and II are tied directly to the statutory minimum wage and rose 1.9% on July 1, 2026, from €14.71 to €14.99 per hour. Grades III through XI received a separate 2.5% structural increase on January 1, 2026. Both steps fall well short of the 4.0% national average.
That gap compounds. Someone who joined three years ago watches the distance to sectors like construction and skilled trades widen a little more each year, even though the hospitality cao technically stays within agreed terms.
Why this matters now: hospitality is competing for the same workers
Hospitality draws heavily from the same labor pool as construction, retail and logistics: students and flexible workers choosing based on pay, hours and atmosphere. Over 30% of Dutch hospitality owners reported a staff shortage in the second quarter of 2026, against 28,100 open vacancies (Ondernemersplein/CBS, 2026).
On top of that sits a structural turnover problem. Hospitality has the highest staff turnover of any sector: roughly 35% of jobs in the industry change hands every quarter (ABN AMRO). Every departure needs a fast replacement, in a market where the business down the street may be offering a slightly higher hourly rate.
Here's the question worth sitting with: if vacancies are already hard to fill, why wouldn't you actively work to keep the people already on your team? That's exactly where the levers beyond pay come in.
The limits of "we can't raise wages"
For most hospitality businesses, matching construction or skilled-trade pay isn't realistic. Staff costs already run 30 to 35% of revenue, and purchasing and energy costs have climbed too. A wage jump big enough to fully close the gap would put most owners' margins at risk.
That doesn't mean you're powerless. Research on hospitality staff retention keeps pointing to the same non-financial factors: predictable scheduling, feeling heard, and room to learn something new. None of the three require a structural wage jump, and for many employees all three matter as much as a few extra euros an hour.
The rest of this article unpacks two of those levers: scheduling flexibility and team communication with room to grow.
Lever 1: flexibility and clarity in the schedule
35% of hospitality staff cite flexible hours as a key reason to stay with an employer (NEA 2024, via ABN AMRO). That ties into another shift: the Dutch zero-hours contract is being phased out in 2026 in favor of a banded-hours contract with a minimum and maximum number of hours, making schedules more predictable on both sides.
Unpredictable shifts and last-minute schedules are a well-known reason people leave, even when pay itself is fine. Nobody sticks around happily for an employer who announces Saturday's shift on Thursday night.
In Horecaflix you manage staff scheduling centrally or per location, with availability and leave already processed in the roster. Staff see sooner what to expect, and you spot where you're short-staffed before it becomes a problem on the floor. That's no substitute for a higher hourly wage, but it does remove a real reason people walk.
Lever 2: team communication and room to grow as a differentiator
Beyond a clear schedule, staff notice whether they feel like part of the team. Scattered communication through separate chat groups and notice boards leads to missed updates and a sense of being left out, right when you want someone to feel invested. With team communication in Horecaflix, you post news and instructions once and reach everyone who needs them, instead of routing the same message through separate group chats per location.
Room to grow works as a second, equally important lever. Someone who only ever repeats the same till routine disengages faster than someone who feels they're learning something. With microlearning in Horecaflix, your team learns in the app at their own pace, building real knowledge instead of just running the same shift on repeat.
A hospitality business keeping staff without a wage jump
A restaurant owner with twelve staff notices in early 2026 that two experienced team members are leaving for a construction company nearby, for an hourly wage she can't match without breaking her margin. Instead of raising pay regardless, she changes two things: she publishes schedules two weeks ahead instead of a few days, and sets up a fixed weekly update in the team app for news and shout-outs.
A quarter later, turnover among the remaining team is clearly lower than the quarter before. In a short conversation, staff mention they like being able to plan their personal commitments earlier, and that they feel more aware of what's happening on other shifts. The wage gap with construction hasn't closed, but for this team it turns out not to be the only thing that decides whether they stay.
The difference isn't a higher hourly rate, that stayed the same, but predictability and feeling seen. Had the owner changed nothing, she likely would have seen the same turnover as the quarter before, with all the hiring costs that come with it.
Getting started: what you can tackle this month
Start with your schedule: publish at least two weeks ahead and process availability and leave requests directly in it, instead of juggling separate messages and leave slips. That takes a one-time change in habit, but saves time every week after and removes surprises for your team.
Next, set a fixed, short weekly communication moment where updates, shout-outs and points of attention go out once to everyone who needs them. Where you can, attach a small learning moment, like a short module on a new dish or procedure, so staff notice they're picking something up alongside their shift.
Not sure how to line up scheduling, team communication and development in Horecaflix for your business? Get in touch with Horecaflix, and we'll think it through with you.