Nation

Eateries feel crunch as labour woes bite

KUALA LUMPUR: Jun Chan, 40, took a big leap of faith to start noodle bar Bowls of Steel in Petaling Jaya at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020.

Chan held on to a mission that he would hire locals at his restaurant. That way, he thought he could pass down his culinary skills to the younger generation.

Two years later, that decision landed him in a predicament. Despite advertising on social media and scouting for staff in local colleges, Chan has been unable to recruit workers.

"It will probably be a one-man show from August. I used to have seven staff but they left one after another. Most of them were college students working part-time and have now left for greener pastures abroad.

"Currently, I work up to 18 hours a day to cater for about 60 to 100 customers. I make the noodles, serve my customers and wash the dishes as well.

"It is disheartening to see that young Malaysians are unwilling to support local restaurants. I even reached out to some local universities to hire their culinary arts students.

"Some universities did not even respond to my emails. And those that replied said most of their students had opted for internships with larger hotel chains. But as long as I can continue, I do not want to resort to hiring foreign labour," he told the New Straits Times.

Over the last few months, eateries have been feeling the bite of the labour crunch, forcing restaurant operators like Chan to shorten their hours or run with an overstretched workforce.

However, locals appear reluctant to fill the vacancies, despite employers offering salaries of up to RM3,000.

Restaurants that rely on foreign labour are not having it easy either.

Kadei by Manchula, a banana leaf restaurant in Petaling Jaya, has lost a third of its workers, and now operates with only six staff working 16-hour days.

Owner Suresh Gnanasekaran, 37, now makes the roti canai himself, and his mother has returned as the head chef. One of Suresh's business partners recently resigned from his day job to help fill the gap for six months.

"I used to have 18 staff working on two shifts, and the restaurant would run from 7am till 1am. Now, the staff number is down to six, and we operate only from 8am to 10pm.

"Many foreign workers returned to their home country when the borders reopened due to expired work permits. Some of them have taken up higher-paying jobs in Dubai and Qatar.

"And, on top of that, the approval process to hire new foreign workers is moving at a snail's pace. Sourcing local staff, on the other hand, is even more frustrating. In the last three months, I have interviewed 11 people and offered them salaries of up to RM2,700 with Employees Provident Fund and Social Security Organisation coverage.

"None of them took the job. Some of them refused to wash dishes, while others wanted to take weekends off. But weekends are the peak period for restaurants, and that is when I need extra hands on deck.

"Malaysians would rather work at fast food outlets and international franchises that they consider more 'prestigious' than local eateries. And it is impossible to change that mindset," he said.

Suresh called on the government to consider other short-term measures to ease the labour shortages at eateries.

"Besides speeding up foreign labour hiring process, the government should consider granting refugees here the right to work. Restaurants will welcome this," he said.

Shanmugam Nadesan Chettiar, 65, who runs the Chakra Restaurant in Johor Baru, said several eateries in the city were understaffed because locals preferred to work in Singapore due to the higher exchange rate.

"That leaves us with no option but to hire foreign workers. And we hope the government can ease the process for us."

Shanmugam also suggested that the Labour Department inspect workers' accommodations only when they arrived in the country.

"Otherwise, employers will have to rent the hostels three to four months before the workers arrive," he said.

Shanmugam said the soaring prices of ingredients had made matters worse for an already struggling industry.

"The price of long beans shot up from RM3 per kg to RM9 per kg in just one week. And vegetable prices will rise sharply during the monsoon between October and December. The government should allow more imports of vegetables so that restaurants will not be hit with a shortage."

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories