Finding Balance in Seasonal Uncertainty: Bersion’s Approach

One of the burning questions that keeps our chefs, especially the freelancers, up at night is: “Will I have work next season?” A private chef’s life is riddled with uncertainty, not knowing for sure if they’ll have a gig in the coming months until just before the season starts. This uncertainty breeds doubt, fear, and is often a major reason why many private chefs throw in the towel, retreating back to the restaurant scene—a place where creativity is often stifled and where the future doesn’t look much brighter.

At Bersion, we share the same trepidations as our chefs. We’ve felt the same sting of not knowing if work will come our way. We’ve seen it time and time again, in colleagues and in ourselves. It’s become such a common tale that it turned into an inside joke among us. A joke that, through sheer repetition, took on a life of its own. About a year ago, we started calling this phenomenon “May’s curse” or “October’s curse,” depending on the month it hits hardest—those months just before the new season kicks off.

There’s plenty of scientific evidence showing that our brains crave certainty and that insecurity stirs fear. Many chefs buckle under this pressure, abandoning a job they actually love for a less fulfilling one, just for the sake of security. But at Bersion, we want to encourage you, no matter your situation, not to fear change. Embrace the whims of fate. In our experience, there’s always work out there. The last ones standing without a gig often end up snatching up the jobs left behind at the eleventh hour. Sure, the fact that it’s been this way for years doesn’t guarantee it will always be so, but we believe every professional should hone personal skills that grant them flexibility. This way, they’re ready to adapt swiftly to any new “rules of the game” that might come their way.

We at Bersion are acutely aware that our clients can’t always plan their vacations with precision, which means we can’t always organize our seasons perfectly. However, we are currently working on a system to strike a balance—offering our clients the flexibility they need while providing us with the stability we crave. This will enable us to offer an even better service to our clients and greater stability for our chefs. We believe that if we manage to attract the best talent, we must find a way to keep them.