Photo for illustration purposes only. — Pixabay photo
John Teo
MIRI (May 27): The hotel industry here is experiencing a manpower shortage of at least 30 per cent this year, said the Malaysia Association of Hotels Sarawak.
Chairman John Teo said the main shortage of staff was in the housekeeping, food and beverage (F&B) service, kitchen, and front office departments.
“Most of the star-rated hotels are looking for chefs as many have left the industry or retired.
“With the depreciation of Malaysian ringgit at SG$1 to RM3.50 at the moment, Malaysians crossing over to Singapore to work will be getting at least 3.5 times more than they can get working in Malaysia,” he said in a press statement today.
According to him, a front office, F&B, or housekeeping supervisor working in Malaysia would get around RM3,000 but the same posts in Singapore would receive around SG$3,000.
“After conversion, they will be getting RM10,500 per month. With much overtime pay, they will be able to get around RM12,000 to RM15,000 per month.
“There are fewer and fewer Sarawakians willing to work in the hospitality industry due to much lower salaries compared to other industries, like oil and gas which pays more,” he said.
Teo pointed out with Shell Malaysia moving its headquarters here, there are many more opportunities to work in oil and gas, as supporting companies are also moving here.
“Shell, Petronas, and Petros will be employing more and more Sarawakians to work for them, as it is cheaper than getting foreign workers and they also do not need to apply for work permits.
“It will be a very tall order to solve this manpower shortage in this hospitality industry, as well as others,” he said further.
According to Teo, hotels here have not been doing too well over the last two months, especially after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
He said feedback from the Brunei community showed they preferred to travel overseas this year, as well as cross the border to go to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
“We are also seeing more and more locals travelling overseas compared to domestic destinations, especially to China, Thailand, Vietnam, and nearby regions.
“The airfare to travel to these nearby Asian countries is so much cheaper nowadays, as most countries are also promoting tourism for their countries,” he said.
Teo stressed another major problem for Miri was international flight connectivity.
“Miri has only one international flight into Miri, which is Scoot Airlines from Singapore, flying into Miri only four times per week. There are also very minimal flights per day from Kuala Lumpur and Kuching into Miri.
“No doubt Sarawak is looking forward to have its own airlines soon, but it will happen only early 2025 the soonest,” he lamented.
