KUALA LUMPUR: Many sectors are facing severe manpower shortage, especially the food and beverage industry. And young people in particular are not keen to work in this sector.

There are plenty of jobs in the F&B sector, but young people are generally uninterested.

Restaurant and Pub Owners Association (PPRB) vice president Jeremy Lim said his association projected that the F&B industry was facing a very severe 40-50% manpower shortage, or a shortfall of 250,000 employees, not only waiters and cooks but also security personnel.

He told Sin Chew Daily labor shortage would have a direct impact on the service standard of the industry, citing the example that restaurants and mamak stalls which used to operate round the clock may no longer be able to do so now.

‘Unglamorous’

He said many F&B employees left the sector due to lack of a sense of security when the movement control order (MCO) was first implemented in 2020, as the government did not provide explicit details on business closure and the solutions, and did not offer allowances to F&B employees at the beginning.

“Due to the uncertainties over the past two years, many restaurant operators now find it difficult to get workers, as many have fully resumed their operations only for around two months.”

He also said young people are generally not keen to work in this sector, especially mamak stalls and coffee shops which they think are unglamorous and low class.

“Now that Singapore has also opened up, many Johoreans are crossing the Causeway to work, given the attractive exchange rate.”

Lim said a restaurant owner would need at least RM1,800 a month to hire an inexperienced waiter, and it’s simply impossible to get people to work for just RM1,500 a month.

“In some places, even the most basic RM2-3k will not guarantee any taker!

“A mamak stall worker might get RM3-4k including three to five hours of OT each day, but how many young people would want to work over ten hours a day for that kind of pay?”

So, he urged the public to be more understanding, as it is impossible for F&B operators to provide the same level of service now compared to before the pandemic.

‘Can’t get people to work’

Meanwhile, Pan Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants and Chefs Association and Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Wong Teu Hoon said restaurants could only hire foreign workers nowadays as Malaysians are totally not keen to work in restaurants.

“You can’t actually get people to work for you for RM1,800 a month.”

He said young people like to travel around when they are off, and few are willing to work during public holidays when restaurants are the busiest and doing brisk business.

He sighed that there are indeed jobs around, but very few takers.

“We started to face manpower shortage at the beginning of the year. Under certain circumstances, even the chefs, managers and the bosses themselves have to help wash the dishes.

“Sometimes we just have to tell the customers they may have to wait for some time because we are shorthanded.”

To address the manpower problem, Wong said many restaurants now resort to hiring temporary workers.

He said many migrant workers left the country during the MCO, and they are now applying to come back here.

He urged the human resources ministry to streamline the procedures for the hiring of foreign workers to help mitigate the acute manpower shortage problem faced by the industry now.

The RM1,500 minimum wage scheme has also contributed to the labor shortage dilemma of some restaurants.

Although businesses hiring fewer than five employees are exempted from the new ruling, their workers are inclined to hop to larger establishments offering at least RM1,500 a month.