Hoteliers and workers bicker over labour shortage

PETALING JAYA: Hotel workers and their bosses are at odds over a labour shortage that has left hotels unprepared for the expected influx of foreign tourists when the country opens up on Jan 1.

A workers union says hotels have only themselves to blame because they have been too reliant on foreign workers and too stingy to offer acceptable benefits to local workers.

Hotel managers say locals consider hotel jobs undignified.

Rusli Affandi, the secretary-general of the National Union of Hotel, Bar and Restaurant Workers in Peninsular Malaysia, told FMT many Malaysians were interested in working in the hotel industry but hotels were keener on hiring foreign workers.

He said hotels had been hiring foreigners ever since the government opened the industry to them.

“Foreign guests want to see local employees and their culture,” he claimed. “Engaging with foreign workers gives them the wrong impression.”

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president N Subramaniam said recently that hotels were not fully prepared to welcome guests in time for the planned reopening of the country’s borders due to a labour shortage.

He attributed the shortage to several factors, including a lack of interest among locals. Malaysians considered hotel jobs “dirty, dangerous and difficult”, he alleged.

He also said the association had spoken to tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri about allowing more foreign workers to fill the vacancies.

However, Rusli said hotels had made no effort to provide the benefits that would entice Malaysians to join their work force.

He suggested that the industry stop hiring foreign workers and stick to locals, saying they could act as Malaysia’s ambassadors.

MAH CEO Yap Ling Seng told FMT local workers had always been the first choice of the association’s members.

He said the current generation of workers had higher expectations than their predecessors although hotels were offering wages that were similar to “or even more than” the offers from other industries.

He claimed that the younger generation considered hotel jobs difficult and undignified because they were travellers themselves and were used to being served.

He expects the pandemic to change the attitudes of locals and he said this was a good time to plot a new strategy to promote the industry as an ideal career development option.

He suggested that hospitality studies be taught in school.

“The image of the industry must be rebuilt with youths getting to experience and understand the hotel industry better,” he said. — Free Malaysia Today