Aurora’s coffee corner. Photo Resource With the opening of the coffee corner, caterer Compass is making a cautious new start in Aurora. Since the summer break, catering there had mainly been at a standstill. The cause is a lack of staff, says Compass’ location manager Machteld Holtkamp.
According to her, it is difficult to attract experienced staff. ‘There is a huge staff shortage in all sectors. Especially skilled experienced staff.’ Using students is no solution to this. ‘We do work with students, but that is not a solution for permanent and continuous staffing because of changing class schedules and study and exam weeks.’
Student Kitchen
The Student Kitchen has also not yet taken off again after the summer break. This Student Council initiative started energetically in May by serving a hot meal. ‘They are dealing with changing of the guard. They want to get back to work as soon as possible, but are looking for students who can come and cook on a regular basis.’ The latter seems to have succeeded. On Friday, Student Kitchen will resume activity.
The temporary catering halt is seen by the Facilities Management Department as ‘force majeure.’ ‘Of course we have addressed them on that,’ says Facilities Management’s contract manager Location Facilities Marcha Sperna Weiland-Verhoeven. ‘Compass is obliged to have at least one outlet open in Aurora. We are flexible when it comes to force majeure, but of course it has to be short-term.’
They like the workplaces in Aurora, but for socialising and meeting they go to Forum or Orion
Marcha Sperna Weiland-Verhoeven, Facilities Management
The closure, incidentally, affects relatively few students. As a place to stay, Aurora is less popular than the other education buildings, according to Sperna Weiland. ‘Many students go elsewhere after college. They like the workplaces in Aurora, but for socialising and meeting, they go to Forum or Orion.’
Casa Nonna
To make Aurora more attractive, Compass will soon start the Casa Nonna pilot project. Holtkamp: ‘In cooperation with the HAN’s Food & Business course, a concept has been developed for tasty, simple and nutritious (takeaway) pasta. But this also requires employees. As soon as those are in place, we will start.’
Translated with DeepL.
