Eatery Offers Free iPhones to Attract Workers

Due to a labour shortage, anxious restaurant owners are resorting to robot waiters or even providing expensive iPhones to Malaysians who stay on for six months.

 

F&B owners experiencing major labour shortages as well as poaching

Approximately 1,500 restaurants across the nation have been forced to close their doors.

To cope with the significant labour shortage, food and beverage business owners stated they had to restrict working hours and menu offerings.

To make matters worse, F&B workers are drawn to work in other sectors, such as the plantation industry, due to better offers. The departure of many foreign workers at the beginning of the pandemic was a major contributor to the shortage.

They have been unable to return since the government has prohibited new foreign workers from entering the country.

 

Solving the issue of worker poaching

While foreign worker employment was recently re-approved, the procedure remains slow, according to the Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma).

Datuk Jawahar Ali Taib Khan, the association's president, said the group has been unable to fill the staffing gap with local workers and that worker poaching is prevalent.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan stated on Sunday that the ministry would develop a sector-specific identity card to solve the problem of foreign workers switching jobs arbitrarily.

Mr Jawahar believes that this will not be enough to stop intra-sector poaching. He claimed that Presma and the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas) had proposed the i-Kad be reinstated multiple times. Employers can then keep the passports, he explained.

The Immigration Department previously issued the i-Kad, which foreign workers could use as an identification document.

Mr Jawahar said that around 1,500 restaurants had closed their doors, and many more have reduced their hours of operation. According to him, restaurant owners that can afford it are employing delivery robots, which cost roughly RM60,000 each.

Others, he added, are proposing additional perks and attendance incentives.

 

Offering free iPhones to attract local workers

Kanna Curry House, a banana leaf restaurant, is giving away free iPhone SEs to Malaysians who work as servers for a minimum of six months at any of its outlets, as well as an RM10 hourly pay and eight-hour workdays.

Mr Yoga Kannan, the company's operational manager, said the offer is intended to encourage Malaysians to work and stay in the business. He added that Malaysians are unwilling to work in 3D (dirty, dangerous, and difficult) jobs. 

Besides iPhones, the restaurant also offers work hours from 9 am to 5 pm. As of now, five workers have redeemed their iPhones.

 

Some restaurants had to reduce operating hours

Wong Teu Hoon, president of the Pan Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants and Chefs Association, said that nearly all of its members were experiencing a workforce shortage.

Many had to reduce their operating hours as the workers were too tired. Due to overworked staff's complaints, some even had to close for two days a week. 

Restaurants were also raising workers' wages as a result of the increased workload, he noted.

According to Mr Wong, other industries poaching the workers was also a concern. He added that issuing foreign workers' identification cards by sector would surely help reduce poaching. 

 

Source: The Straits Times