I refer to the article “Overseas Singaporean managers in demand back home” (Straits Times, Apr 2).

Hospitality sector eyeing 1,000 Singaporean managers overseas?

It states that “There are at least a thousand Singaporean managers in hotels and restaurants in China and the Middle East, and the man- power-starved hospitality sector here is eyeing them hungrily.

“Many of these workers have at least three years of experience overseas. They have useful skills and knowledge which they can share with junior staff,” said Food and Beverage Managers’ Association president Cheong Hai Poh.

Convinced that getting these Singaporeans to return will lick the manpower problem here, he told reporters yesterday he hoped to get the support of employers taking part in a trade fair here next week.

The F&B managers group plans to work with Contact Singapore, a government outfit focused on attracting skilled foreigners, to get in touch with Singaporeans abroad and link them up with interested employers.

Industry figures show that the average monthly resignation rate in the food and beverage industry is 4.6 per cent, twice the average turnover of 2.3 per cent across the services sector.”

Low pay?

– In this connection, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Manpower Resources Guide for Food & Beverage Industry – the wage range for restaurant managert/supervisor is only

“$1,707
(20–24 years old)
$2,000
(25–29 years old)
$2,500
(30 years old and above)”.

The wage range for Chef is

“$1,877

(25–29 years old)

$2,400
(30 years old and above)”.

For Bartender, it is

” $1,446 

(20–24 years old)

$1,550
(25–29 years old)

$1,590
(30 years old and above)”.

With such arguably low pay, would Singaporeans working abroad be likely to return to work in Singapore?  

Also, in real terms, after adjusting for inflation, has pay in the industry generally increased in the last decade or so?

Not focusing on the obvious?

As to “Employment and Employability Institute chief executive Gilbert Tan said his organisation will develop and run new training programmes to boost employee skills and retention rates in the hospitality sector.

To tackle the manpower crunch, Mr Cheong said his association is looking at other ideas such as having a job fair to get young men to join restaurants and hotels after completing national service and getting small eateries to share a common pool of staff.

“It is hard for workers to have career progression in a small restaurant, that is why many leave.

“But if three or four eateries can come together, the staff can move around and pick up new skills. Maybe they will be encouraged to stay on,” he said”

– Accordng to the Food and Beverage Work Group Report – the 20-page report has a slew of recommendations to 40 issues identified for the industry.

In my humble view, all these studies, reports, new training programmes, media reports, job fairs, etc – may not be highlighting the obvious – which is the low pay in the industry.

And to what extent our liberal foreign labour policies and the huge influx of foreign workers may have contributed to this?

Leong Sze Hian