CHINESE restaurants are reportedly offering attractive wages to their workers to prevent them from leaving at a time when the industry is preparing to cash in on the lucrative Lunar New Year business.

The starting rate is from RM8 an hour and could go as high as RM12, according to industry sources.

That is reportedly double or triple the normal off-peak period rate.

Restaurants in Johor are said to be suffering from worker shortage more than any other states as the Singapore dollar lures them across the causeway where they could make more money even as a part-time worker.

One Singapore restaurant, Dian Xiao Er, is said to be offering S$36 (RM118) an hour to their part-time staff working on new year’s eve, the first, second and seventh days of the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, according to media reports.

The rate is S$24 for working from the third to the 14th day of Chinese New Year.

Restaurants in the island republic have been luring experienced Malaysian workers the last three months, according to the industry.

Johor Kitchen Association president Ang Swee Kiong told The Malaysian Insight that restaurants in the peninsula’s most southern state have been saddled with a shortage of workers since the Covid-19 movement restrictions and cross-border travel were lifted earlier in the year.

“The food and beverage and catering industry has lost a lot of workers to Singapore,” he said.

“So inevitably, there are concerns that the shortage of workers will be exacerbated during the Chinese New Year period where restaurants hope to make as much money as they could to make up for losses incurred during the pandemic.”

This coming Chinese New Year will also be the first new year to be celebrated without any restrictions. It falls on January 22.

Ang said some restaurants have even resorted to negotiating with their workers on their “new year salary” three months ago to prevent them from leaving.

Such was the shortage that restaurants do not mind hiring housewives as part-time workers given the difficulty in hiring foreign workers.

Offering attractive wages seems to have paid off for Xin Yang Seafood Restaurant in Batu Pahat.

Its director, Tan Boon Guan, said he has no worries as his restaurant has the full complement of staff for the busy season.

“As long as you make your staff feel at home and happy, you don’t have to worry about staff shortage. It’s important to treat them properly,” he said.

As he said his restaurant is already fully booked for the Chinese New Year period, he will increase his staff strength by 30% from new year’s eve.

Most will be students looking for some extra money working part-time.

Persatuan Pemilik Restaurant & Bistro vice-president Jeremy Lim said food and beverage outlets in Singapore could offer high wages not because of the strength of the Singapore dollar.

“Their tourism industry is more vibrant. They have far more foreign tourists there,” he said.

“We don’t have that many in Malaysia. Ours are mostly local tourists.”

Lim said since food and beverage operators like him have experienced a drop in business from August, they are not exactly scrambling for workers during the traditionally peak period.

“Even the business at the end of the year is not very good. So most of us operators have adopted a wait-and-see attitude,” he said.

Lim said the slowdown is due to inflation.

Those who could afford to spend, he said, would rather go abroad for holidays. – December 15, 2022.