PETALING JAYA: Chinese restaurants are reportedly offering lucrative wages to their workers to prevent them from leaving during the Lunar New Year business.
The starting rate is from RM8 an hour and could go as high as RM12, The Malaysian Insight reports.
Johor Kitchen Association president Ang Swee Kiong told The Malaysian Insight that restaurants in the peninsula’s most southern state have been hit with a shortage of workers since the Covid-19 movement restrictions earlier in the year.
“The food and beverage and catering industry have lost a lot of workers to Singapore.
“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,“ he reportedly said.
Ang also revealed that some restaurants have even negotiated with their workers on their “new year salary” three months ago to prevent them from leaving.
Meanwhile, 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.
“We don’t have that many in Malaysia. Ours are mostly local tourists,“ he reportedly said.
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