Depopulation alarm even for bakeries, there are no bakers

The craft of the baker, one of the oldest and most identity-defining professions in Albania, is heading toward extinction.

At a time when the country counts over 3,000 bakeries and more than 12,000 businesses involved in bread and pastry production, the industry is facing an alarming shortage of specialists.

Wages have increased significantly, yet bakeries remain empty. At the root of this crisis are mass emigration, the decline of vocational schools, fierce competition, and rising costs.

According to Gëzim Peshkopia, head of the Bread, Pastry and Dough Association, Albanian craftsmen are today among the most sought-after workers in the European market.

“Bakers in Europe are Albanian, originating from Kosovo, North Macedonia or Albania. This craft belongs to us in Europe. We continue the artisanal tradition, but their departure is a blow to our domestic production,” he says.

Former director of the state bread production factory, expert Hysen Caka, stresses that wage differences have emptied the domestic market:

“The entire army of specialists trained after the 1990s has left due to monetary differences. Attractive salaries in EU countries have made the domestic market deeply feel the lack of craftsmen.”

According to Caka, the uncontrolled increase in bakeries, fast-food outlets and pastry shops has created fierce competition and reduced profits.

“Many businesses operate below capacity, while raw material and energy costs have risen. In this reality, high salaries for specialists become an additional burden for businesses.”

Thus, while Albanian masters are seen as added value in the European market, the gap at home continues to widen.

Vocational schools emptying

One of the strongest indicators of the crisis is the drastic drop in the number of students in Food Technology and Bread-Pastry programs.

In the 2018–2019 school year, one technological school had 322 students, while today the total number across four years of study in the “Food Technology” branch has fallen to 86, and in the Bread-Pastry profile there are almost no enrollments at all.

Faced with the shortage, businesses are calling for urgent intervention.

Entrepreneur Ibrahim Yzeiri proposes subsidizing food, dormitories and scholarships for students from rural areas, as well as direct cooperation between schools and production laboratories:

“We ask for cooperation with the state to build a spirit of preserving these crafts that are being lost. The Hospitality-Tourism school should not have 8 students as it does today, but 80. Let’s create a spirit of cooperation so they do not leave the country, because it’s easy to bring labor from abroad, but we have available workforce in Albania that is leaving,” said Yzeiri.

The sector’s paradox is clear: wages have risen, yet the labor shortage continues.

A qualified baker in Tirana today earns 1,000–1,500 euros. Nevertheless, employment portals continue to publish unfilled job vacancies.

According to Peshkopia, young people choose other alternatives:

“What young person comes to become a baker or pastry chef, when they find other opportunities to earn the salary they want?”

Some entrepreneurs, due to the lack of workers, have themselves returned to baking bread. Avni Nela, with 35 years of experience and a wide network of bakeries and pastry businesses in the capital, is today also a baker himself.

“Today, I need many bakery workers, but we can no longer find them. The state must intervene so professionals are not driven away, and young people need to be educated to turn their eyes toward the profession,” says Nela.

Faced with the gap, some bakeries are seeking workers from India, the Philippines or Bangladesh, but adaptation remains difficult.

“Bringing labor from abroad does not meet the specialist standards we require,” said Peshkopia.

Why are these professions being abandoned?

Employment expert Gertjana Hasalla says: “Albanian society has built a hierarchy where university is seen as success, while vocational school is seen as failure. No young person wants to be labeled as ‘the one who didn’t make it to university.’”

She emphasizes that physical working conditions are difficult, with night shifts, high temperatures and intensive labor, while wages often do not justify the effort.

“A young person can work in a call center with normal hours and a similar or higher salary. The choice becomes simpler,” Hasalla notes.

According to Hasalla, an integrated policy package is needed: subsidizing social insurance contributions for employers in the sector, monthly scholarships for vocational students, modernization of bakery technology and incentives for vocational education.

Experts warn that the shortage of craftsmen will force a shift toward industrial production lines, risking a decline in quality and the loss of traditional Albanian bread identity.

“Bakeries will soon move from craftsmanship to industry. This is becoming unavoidable,” says Caka.

Industry representatives have sent a letter to the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Delina Ibrahimaj, requesting that “Baker” be treated as an endangered craft, concrete measures to attract young people through scholarships, accommodation opportunities and other facilities, as well as subsidies for the “Baker” specialty category, with specific payments to ease the burden of high wages amid labor shortages.

The sector is calling for state intervention, including VAT reductions on flour and supportive policies. Without concrete measures, one of the country’s most traditional crafts risks being left without successors. As industry representatives warn, if the trend continues, Albanian bakeries may remain without masters and artisanal bread only a memory.

“KORÇA BOOM”