JOHOR BAHRU – Eateries in Johor Bahru are facing a double whammy as they struggle to employ and retain cooks while coping with the surge in the number of customers following the reopening of the border with Singapore.
Johor Bahru Cooks Association president John Ang said there is intense competition among restaurant and coffee shop owners for cooks, with many now offering higher salaries to attract workers.
“The lack-of-cooks problem has been going on for many years in Johor Bahru due to our proximity to Singapore, but it seems to have become more serious since the reopening of the border last year,” he told The Star.
“Many of our local cooks returned to Singapore, where they could get at least three times the pay compared with working here.
“This came when the food business here was booming as people were free to dine without Covid-19 restrictions.
“To retain the cooks, many eatery owners have been offering higher salaries. In general, the salary of a cook in Johor Bahru has increased by about 30 per cent now compared with pre-pandemic times.”
Mr Ang said this has also contributed to a further increase in the price of food in restaurants and coffee shops.
“The competition among eateries to retain cooks, coupled with the increase in the price of goods, has contributed to food being more expensive in such eateries here,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johor Bahru Business and Hawker Association president Roland Lim, a coffee shop owner, said businesses with foreign workers face difficulties in training their cooks.
“Most of our foreign workers, including those we trained in the service line for years, have returned to their home countries due to the pandemic,” he said.
“We are now getting new workers who are inexperienced, and we need to train them again. Some eateries had to remove certain dishes from their menus because their workers could not cook them.
“Some of the foreign workers who are now in the food and beverage industry are those who are meant to work in the construction sector. They have no cooking skills at all, and we need to take the time to teach them how to cook our local food.”
Due to the lack of cooks, some restaurants are “pinching” foreign workers from other sectors.
“The competition to get cooks is becoming more and more intense. Some businesses have resorted to “stealing” workers from others due to desperation, said Mr Lim.
“Since the demand for cooks is high, many foreign workers feel that they have more options and are willing to take up the offers from other restaurants,” he said.
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2023-05-22 01:57:00Z
CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9zZS1hc2lhL2pvaG9yLWJhaHJ1LWZhY2luZy1pbnRlbnNlLWNvb2stY29tcGV0aXRpb24td2l0aC1zaW5nYXBvcmXSAQA
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