The Abandoned Knam

The Ernst Knam affair has been dominating the conversation in recent hours. The well‑known German pastry chef, who became popular in Italy also thanks to his television work, unexpectedly revealed during the filming of the latest season of Bake Off Italia that he had been “abandoned” by his entire team of pastry chefs, employees who had worked for years in his historic Milan laboratory.

A wave of mass resignations that, according to Knam, forced him and his longtime business partner to shut down the shop for an entire month, waiting to rebuild the staff through a series of lightning‑fast interviews. The whole situation, still according to the pastry chef’s account, allegedly began with a “bad apple” who convinced all the other colleagues to follow his lead and voluntarily quit their jobs.

Is it really possible that a single person had such an influence on the rest of the team, pushing them all the way to resigning? Or was a deeper malaise already smoldering beneath the surface among Knam’s staff for quite some time?

_{Foto di Jason Goh da Pixabay}

After a few days of attacks from the owner, the employees have finally responded — and, spoiler alert, according to their version, things aren’t exactly as the German chef described. Knam had essentially spoken of a lack of passion among younger generations, tied to standard working hours and no longer willing to put in even the few extra minutes of overtime needed to finish preparations.

According to the TV personality, the low willingness of his staff — and of restaurant workers in general — to work overtime is supposedly “killing the industry.” When he was young, he says, he would spend up to eighteen hours straight in the kitchen during his apprenticeship, without asking for a single extra cent.

In short, even without saying it explicitly, it seems that the usual spiel was circulating in the company — the one repeated like a parrot by many employers to pressure their workers: “You have a job, I pay your salary, consider yourself lucky and do what I tell you. Otherwise, there’s the door — and a line of people ready to take your place.”

_{Foto di techvaran da Pixabay}

A little game that usually works, obtorto collo, at least until you pull the rope so hard that it finally snaps. And that’s exactly what seems to have happened in Knam’s workshop, judging by the letter signed by a group of former employees and sent to the editorial staff of the specialized website Cook List.

In it, Knam’s former collaborators complained about unpleasant working conditions. The overtime requested, for instance, was anything but the few minutes mentioned by the pastry chef, and during certain periods of the year it had become routine — with payment arriving only sporadically.

The staff often worked understaffed, increasing pressure and workload on employees’ shoulders without receiving any kind of recognition or appreciation. In short, a story already seen in many workplaces across our country — including the one where I myself worked for almost two decades, before making the same choice as Knam’s employees.

_{Foto di Firmbee da Pixabay}

The public debate sparked by the affair has once again highlighted the positions of two opposing camps: on one side, the older generations, generally convinced that young people lack the “dedication to work” typical of a few decades ago; on the other, the younger workers themselves, who demand a fair balance between work and private life.

Placing myself somewhere in the middle, my view is a synthesis of both. Complaining or making a fuss over an unexpected few dozen minutes of overtime — perhaps needed due to last‑minute demands — is not only foolish but also counterproductive.

However, when overtime becomes a sort of routine, to the point where an employee who leaves at the agreed time is looked at with suspicion (especially if those extra efforts aren’t paid), it’s a sign that the working relationship is dangerously tilting. And an imbalance, in any kind of relationship, rarely leads to anything good.

In this case, Knam S.r.l. reported a turnover of more than two and a half million euros in 2024, with profits nearing two hundred thousand euros by year’s end. Would it really have been a problem to pay overtime regularly or, alternatively, hire a couple of part‑time assistants during peak periods to ease the burden on the staff?

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