RESTAURANTS seeing business pick up after two years of the coronavirus are now faced with another problem, a severe lack of manpower, industry experts said.

Migrant workers – sent home at the start of the epidemic – have not returned, leaving many businesses short staffed and unable to run as normal, with locals unwilling to fill the void.

As such, many restaurants have now resorted to reducing their seating capacity.

Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said its members are experiencing a 20,000 to 30,000 worker shortage.

Presma members own around 10,000 restaurants nationwide.

“Our business has increased slightly but there are not enough workers to do the job of cleaning tables, taking orders and serving the food,” Jawahar told The Malaysian Insight.

“Customers have to face a long wait for their food, which is not good for our reputation.”

Jawahar said that he has brought the matter up to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He also said the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Human Resources Ministry has failed to solve even 1% of the manpower shortage problem.

“In Penang, three large chain restaurants decided to close due to lack of manpower,” Jawahar said.

“We are now in the fourth phase of the national recovery plan, but we feel helpless. Businesses want to move forward but we have no employees.

“Two days ago, a member in Alam Damai, Cheras put up a banner to recruit workers with a salary ranging from RM1,500 to RM3,000 depending on the role but no one applied, even though the working hours are according to labour laws.”

Since the epidemic started in 2020, more than 2,000 restaurants have closed due to cash flow problems and the lockdowns, Jawahar said.

Now that they can open normally, they don’t have the staff, he said, adding that opening hours have been shortened from 7am to 10pm.

Besides the shortage of workers, the Omicron wave has led to more people opting for takeaways rather than dining in, he said.

“Due to Omicron, our business has decreased between 15% to 20%, but people still order from delivery platforms. We still have business, but we don’t have enough staff.”

Reducing dine-in capacity

The Malaysian F&B Operators Alliance (MyF&B) spokesperson Tony Lim said most restaurants are 30% down on staff and have reduced capacity to 70% to make things manageable.

Restaurants have also adjusted their menus, reducing the options available due to the shortage, he said.

“We used to hire migrant workers but due to the pandemic, many have returned to their own countries.

“We now have to rely on locals but how many want to work in this industry?” Lim asked.

Even locals who used to work in the industry moved back to their hometowns during the lockdowns to make ends meet, he said.

“We believe this year and next year, people will start coming back to the Klang Valley to work.”

The manpower shortage in the Klang Valley is worse than Kedah and Penang, he added.

Justin Hor, deputy president of the Selangor and Federal Territory Ku Su Shin Chung Hung Restaurants, said Chinese restaurants are willing to hire locals with higher salaries but there are no takers.

Previously, Chinese restaurants used to pay RM1,300. This has since been increased to RM1,600 and then RM1,800, he said.

With overtime, the benefits can add up to RM3,000 a month, Hor said.

Besides a shortage of workers, which Hor estimates to be around 20%, Chinese restaurants are also grappling with a 10% increase in the price of raw materials.

Last month, Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said there will no longer be any special quotas for the recruitment of migrant workers.

He said every application from employers must now go through the ministry’s evaluation committee to determine the number of migrant workers eligible to be employed in accordance with the set terms and conditions. – March 2, 2022.