{"id":97577,"date":"2026-07-24T16:27:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/?p=97577"},"modified":"2026-08-04T15:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:34:39","slug":"3-fragen-an-lea-wagner-zur-zukunft-des-handwerks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/3-questions-for-lea-wagner-future-of-skilled-trades\/","title":{"rendered":"3 questions for Lea Wagner on the future of baking and the skilled trades"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In our \u201c3 questions for\u2026\u201d section, we regularly interview experts on topics that will have a lasting impact on the future of organizations and society. From software development and artificial intelligence to strategic foresight and attitudes toward the future, sustainability, and dealing with fears about the future \u2014 we shed light on the trends and developments that help us think and act in a future-oriented way.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Confidence to shape the future in the baking trade: AI, meaningful work & room for change<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLea Wagner inspires amateur and professional bakers alike. And when industry conferences turn to the future of the baking trade, or of skilled crafts and trades more broadly, Lea is often part of the conversation on stage. Most recently, at ZUKUNFT HANDWERK in Munich, she joined the panel \u201cProud, Prouder, Skilled Trades\u201d, alongside Federal Minister Dorothee B\u00e4r and ZDH President J\u00f6rg Dittrich, among others. For Lea, local businesses, visibility and sustainability are not buzzwords from trend reports; they are part of everyday life. She is a master baker, master confectioner and runner-up in the World Baking Championship. We spoke with her about the future of her industry, the skilled trades and the role she wants to play in shaping both. Her outlook is shaped neither by black-and-white thinking nor by a rose-tinted utopia, but by something more valuable: a realistic optimism that acknowledges the problems and still chooses to act. A nuanced, refreshingly anti-dystopian conversation about facing the future with confidence and courage:\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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How do you see the future of your industry?<\/h3>

\u201cA lot is changing in the bakery sector right now\u201d, Lea says right at the start. AI, the big topic? She does not see it as something to fear, but primarily as a tool. Large bakery chains already use software that factors in things few people would think to consider when planning orders: Which holidays are coming up in the Islamic calendar? When are periods of fasting? What will the weather be like? \u201cThat kind of thing can be a real help in this industry,\u201d says Lea. She is far less convinced that AI will replace skilled bakers \u2013 not least because the industry is already facing a severe shortage of skilled workers.<\/p>

The media often paint a gloomy picture of the industry\u2019s future, with talk of \u201cthe death of the local bakery\u201d and rising insolvency figures.<\/a> One recurring argument centers on competition between the small local bakery and large-scale industrial producers. What bothers Lea about so much of the negative coverage is not that it names real problems, but that it tells only one side of the story: \u201cThe death of the local bakery\u201d simply makes a good headline. She sees the tension between industrial-scale production and local craft bakeries too, but she rejects the idea of casting industry as the villain in a simple good-versus-bad story: \u201cI think there is room for both.\u201d Industrial producers serve a different market, and someone who can only afford a 17-cent bread roll from the supermarket \u2013 say, a single mother \u2013 deserves understanding, not judgment. At the same time, those are prices a small sustainable bakery neither can nor should try to match.<\/p>

In Lea\u2019s vision of the industry\u2019s future, there will be a number of large-scale bakeries with branch networks and supermarket supply contracts, and there will still be small bakeries offering a manageable but carefully chosen range, built around quality and local sourcing, and making that value visible to customers. \u201cIf you're really good at what you do, people will come to you.\u201d Those who can neither compete with industrial prices nor communicate what makes them different will find it increasingly difficult to win customers. And in Lea\u2019s view, some bakeries have contributed to their own decline: \u201cSome small bakeries have basically run themselves into the ground,\u201d for example by offering huge ranges packed with bought-in frozen baked goods or by treating apprentices and staff poorly.<\/p>

One thing working in favour of craft bakeries is the growing focus on health and sustainability. Lea\u2019s bakery has switched entirely to long fermentation, allowing doughs to rest for extended periods before baking. This develops more flavour, keeps products fresh for longer and breaks down compounds that can cause health issues for many people. Many customers who can no longer digest supermarket products come to her for exactly that reason. Then there are the short supply chains: the spelt flour comes from an organic farmer just around the corner, making it easy to agree which variety of grain to grow the following year. That reduces exposure to supply-chain disruptions and cuts the bakery\u2019s carbon footprint. Lea is candid about the trade-offs too: long fermentation means more work and noticeably higher energy costs. \u201cBut I think our customers appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>

How do you see the future of the skilled crafts and trades?<\/h3>

Does the baking trade \u2013 and skilled work more broadly \u2013 have an image problem? Will these careers become more attractive in the future, or will the skills shortage continue? And what about the question of purpose, which is playing an increasingly important role in debates about the future of work? For a baker, the working day starts in the middle of the night. Who really enjoys getting up that early? Yet Lea, of all people, has a compelling answer to the question, \"What am I actually getting up for every morning?\" Perhaps that is one of the trade's greatest strengths \u2013 and one we talk about far too little:<\/p>

Lea points to a Forsa survey<\/a> commissioned by IKK classic (November 2025): 91% of people working in the skilled trades find their work meaningful, 84% are proud of their profession, 77% say their work even makes them happy, and only 6% are dissatisfied with their job. Those whose work is largely physical also value the fitness benefits: 71% say their work keeps them physically fit and 80% say it keeps them mentally fit. The act of making something with your own hands is seen as a distinctive strength of the trades \u2013 one that neither machines nor AI can replace. For Lea, the reason is obvious: \u201cThere is a real sense of purpose. At the end of the day, you have something tangible that you can look at and feel proud of.\u201d In her experience, people who can see what they have created at the end of the day \u2013 a loaf of bread, a window, a piece of furniture \u2013 are more satisfied. Of course, people in the skilled trades are not immune to mental health problems in demanding working lives. Even so, the sector compares relatively well on mental well-being: the IKK classic study \u201cHow Healthy Are the Skilled Trades? 2024\/25\u201d,<\/a> conducted with the German Sport University Cologne, found that well-being among people in the skilled trades is above the population average.<\/p>

That makes the gap between how tradespeople see themselves and how others see them all the more painful. Many feel their work receives less recognition than other professions. According to the Forsa survey, 99% of respondents consider the skilled trades important to society, yet only 61% feel genuinely appreciated for their work by those around them, and 51% believe the skilled trades do not receive enough recognition in society. Lea knows this from personal experience \u2013 and sometimes almost turns it into a game. If she tells strangers simply that she is a baker, she gets a weary \u201cOh, okay.\u201d If she says she is a master baker, master confectioner, World Championship runner-up and German champion, the reaction suddenly becomes: \u201cWow, that\u2019s amazing!\u201d For her, the image problem starts early, with parents pushing their children towards the academic track from primary school onwards, as though vocational training were merely a second-rate Plan B to university. \u201cI personally think that\u2019s a bit of a shame,\u201d says Lea, although she also believes things will change. Ironically, AI may help drive that shift: many academic professions may be easier to automate than the skilled work performed by human hands in a bakery.<\/p>

Lea still sees plenty of need for reform, especially in vocational training. In her view, vocational schools often bring together two very different worlds. On one side are highly motivated young people from family businesses and career changers, some of whom already have university degrees. On the other are apprentices who simply sit through lessons because the material does not really challenge them. The system serves neither group particularly well. Curricula lag behind real-world practice in many areas: modern techniques such as long fermentation barely feature, while anyone who shows creativity in an exam risks losing marks to examiners with an \u201cold-school mindset\u201d. There has been some incremental progress, though: from 2027, the unpopular intermediate exam \u2013 which until now carried little incentive because nobody could fail it \u2013 will count towards the final qualification nationwide.<\/p>

Another development has caught Lea\u2019s attention in a positive way: the industry is becoming more female. When she was training for her master baker qualification, around three-quarters of her classmates were men \u2013 an unfamiliar sight for Lea, because her family\u2019s bakery had always employed \u201cmostly women\u201d. Even so, that ratio already represented progress. Ten or twenty years ago, vocational school classes might have included only one or two women training as bakers; today, women account for around a quarter on average. The old clich\u00e9s \u2013 this is not a job for women, it is too heavy, too physically demanding \u2013 are losing ground, partly because the work itself has changed. The 50-kilogram sacks of the past have largely disappeared. Some are already saying, \u201cThe future of baking is female.\u201d A look at Germany\u2019s national baking team, where the share of women is far higher than in the industry overall, suggests they may have a point.<\/p>

Lea\u2019s conclusion on the future of the skilled trades: they need young people who are eager to change things. Lea herself created bread painting as an art form \u2013 something that simply did not exist before and is now taught in workshops in many places. \u201cThere is still so much room to explore in this industry,\u201d she says. If that message is communicated more clearly, if social recognition grows, and if more people confidently choose an apprenticeship as their Plan A, Lea sees a strong future for the skilled trades.<\/p>

What role do you see yourself playing in the future of the baking trade?<\/h3>

Beyond bread painting, Lea is helping shape the future of baking in very practical ways and on several fronts. Through social media and a podcast, she works to build a more positive public image of the skilled trades. She sees these channels as a \u201cvoice\u201d that can show people the many sides of the sector and build understanding \u2013 whether that means explaining how the price of a loaf reflects energy costs, taxes and fair wages; putting a public face to her local suppliers; or experimenting with recipes and baking techniques to showcase the creative side of her craft.<\/p>

At the business level, Lea is about to take over the family bakery. She has been actively shaping the business for some time rather than simply preserving the status quo. One example is opening hours: the shop used to be open six days a week; now it opens five, with two of those only half days. The aim is to give employees a proper weekend and more time with their families \u2013 far from a given in a profession where work begins at night. Lea says her parents\u2019 generation often knew the baker\u2019s life only as a life of complete sacrifice: no family, no partner, or both only at a very high cost. That is exactly what she wants to change: \u201cThere is always a way.\u201d Her experience so far backs her up: \u201cI\u2019ve changed so many things my parents said couldn\u2019t be done. And every single one of them worked.\u201d Her local customers have supported every change so far. She also talks about this \u2013 and about how to preserve tradition without standing still \u2013 in an episode of her podcast, \u201cCourage to Change \u2013 Why \u2018Oof\u2019 Is Often Where It Starts.\u201d<\/a><\/p>

She does not romanticize her working life, though: \u201cThere are days when you think, \u2018Ugh, I really don\u2019t feel like getting up tomorrow.\u2019 But that\u2019s true in any job.\u201d Overall, however, the satisfaction \u2013 and the sense of purpose she finds in her work \u2013 wins out.<\/p>

Conclusion: shaping the future instead of fearing it \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>

To us, Lea is a powerful example of what #Zukunftsmut looks like in practice: the courage and confidence to shape the future. The industry faces real challenges: insolvencies, the shortage of skilled workers, bureaucracy and fierce competition. But Lea does not respond to that uncertainty by retreating. She pushes back against it and shows people that local skilled craft businesses can thrive \u2013 and that the work can be both deeply rewarding and full of purpose. Instead of merely talking about the future, Lea gets to work shaping it. We wish her every success as she takes over the family business!<\/p>

More from Lea Wagner:\u00a0<\/h3>

Social media
<\/strong>@meisterbaeckerin_lea<\/a><\/p>

Panel at ZUKUNFT HANDWERK in Munich\u00a0<\/strong>
Haltung f\u00fcr ein gesundes Handwerk \u2013 Das war die ZUKUNFT HANDWERK 2026<\/a><\/p>

Podcast
<\/strong>F\u00fcr Laib und Leben<\/a><\/p>

Family-owned bakery
<\/strong>Der B\u00e4ckerladen Aschfeld<\/a>

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At Schaltzeit, we know the debates around meaning and agency in the workplace from our own foresight projects, including work for Germany\u2019s Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. All the better when the answers are found not only in strategy papers, but in a bakery.<\/p>

Would you like to build greater confidence in the future within your business or industry? Get in touch. Together, we\u2019ll find a format that helps you engage constructively with the questions and uncertainties shaping your future: https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/futures-experience\/<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lea Wagner inspires amateur and professional bakers alike. And when industry conferences turn to the future of the baking trade, or of skilled crafts and trades more broadly, Lea is often part of the conversation on stage. Most recently, at ZUKUNFT HANDWERK in Munich, she joined the panel \u201cProud, Prouder, Skilled Trades\u201d, alongside Federal Minister Dorothee B\u00e4r and ZDH President J\u00f6rg Dittrich, among others. For Lea, local businesses, visibility and sustainability are not buzzwords from trend reports; they are part of everyday life. She is a master baker, master confectioner and runner-up in the World Baking Championship. We spoke with her about the future of her industry, the skilled trades and the role she wants to play in shaping both. Her outlook is shaped neither by black-and-white thinking nor by a rose-tinted utopia, but by something more valuable: a realistic optimism that acknowledges the problems and still chooses to act. A nuanced, refreshingly anti-dystopian conversation about facing the future with confidence and courage:<\/p>","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":97573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[492,487,488,504,513,493,498,512,496,509,510,264,511,495,486,507,503,318,489,272,497,485,494,508,344,506,491,490,502,499,514,500,279,448,326,501,505],"ppma_author":[310],"class_list":["post-97577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gesellschaft","tag-ausbildungsberufe","tag-backen","tag-baeckerei","tag-backrezepte","tag-bayern","tag-berufsausbildung","tag-betriebsfuehrung","tag-dorfleben","tag-ernaehrung","tag-familienbetrieb","tag-familienunternehmen","tag-foresight","tag-generationen","tag-gesundheit","tag-handwerk","tag-ikk-classic","tag-influencer","tag-ki","tag-konditorei","tag-kuenstliche-intelligenz","tag-langzeitfuehrung","tag-lea-wagner","tag-lokalitaet","tag-magdalena-soetebeer","tag-nachhaltigkeit","tag-optimismus","tag-purpose","tag-sinnfrage","tag-social-media","tag-tradition","tag-unterfranken","tag-veraenderung","tag-zukunftsforschung","tag-zukunftsgestaltung","tag-zukunftskompetenz","tag-zukunftsmut","tag-zuversicht"],"acf":[],"authors":[{"term_id":310,"user_id":20,"is_guest":0,"slug":"magdalenasoetebeersz","display_name":"Magdalena Soetebeer","avatar_url":"http:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/maggy.introduction.photo-Kopie-96x96.jpg","author_category":"","first_name":"Magdalena","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":"Magdalena is a trained communication designer and works in communication and Futures Literacy at Schaltzeit. She brings her experience in futures studies, design thinking, and workshop design and facilitation to a variety of methods, creating the best possible foundations for ideation in participatory processes."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97577"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97728,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97577\/revisions\/97728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97577"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schaltzeit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=97577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}