Too few staff threaten by omikron

The highly contagious omikron variant threatens to jeopardize the production capacity of food companies. Not only do many staff drop out due to illness, many employees also have to quarantine.

FEVIA keeps its finger on the pulse with weekly survey

Massive staff cuts can put heavy pressure on the entire food chain. That is why FEVIA temporarily questions its members via a weekly survey. In this way the situation can be closely monitored and any measures can be taken quickly. The first survey in the week of January 17 showed that an average of 8.4% of the staff of the participating food companies was absent (55% due to illness, 30% due to quarantine).

Production suffers from omikron

The many absences have an impact on the processing and production capacity of three out of four food companies. In 5% of them, it had already fallen by more than 30% by mid-January. Production in a quarter was 10 to 30% lower. Just under half recorded a drop of less than 10%. Given the high reproduction number and the rapid spread of the omikron variant, it can be expected that production will suffer even harder, especially since teleworking is not an option for food production companies.

Absenteeism by no means the only threat

The impending shortage of personnel to ensure their own production is not the only threat to the food companies at the moment. The loss of personnel also has an impact on the suppliers of raw materials, packaging or other matters that are necessary for production. Logistics companies are also getting into trouble, causing the supply to come to a halt. In addition, the corona pandemic still entails additional costs (for protective equipment, testing and guaranteed wages in the event of illness). These represent an average of 5.5% of the weekly turnover.