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May 26, 2022 published at 5:58 PM
By Candice Cai AsiaOne
Would you wash dishes for $3,500 a month?
It is a pretty high salary for a blue-collar job but despite this very attractive offer, some F&B operators in Singapore are still struggling to find willing candidates to take up this position.
Over at Ishinomaki Grill & Sake located in Orchard Road, co-owner Chen Weixin told Shin Min Daily News that due to a shortage of people willing to do this job, she had to roll up her sleeves and wash the dishes.
No other staff member she approached wanted to take on the additional duty either, even for an extra $50 a day.
“Maybe many people view dishwashing as a lowly position and are unwilling to do it even when there’s money to be made,” Chen told Shin Min Daily News.
Chen, a shareholder of the restaurant, shared that only when they put up the offer of $3,500 a month — equivalent to the starting salaries for some fresh university graduates — did they manage to find a Malaysian worker.
And that is after a month-long search. No Singaporean wanted to take up their offer.
The 50-year-old said they used to rely on foreign workers for this position but the pandemic had resulted in many of them returning to their home countries.
There’s also a labour crunch with the easing of Covid-19 rules since March 29 and the tightening of foreign labour policies here.
Few Singaporeans want to do this
Shin Min Daily News also reported that some F&B businesses have resorted to offering salaries of up to $4,000 a month for dishwashers and $3,000 in bonuses to attract staff.
One F&B operator told Shin Min Daily News that they are offering a base salary of $2,600 with a hiring bonus of $2,000.
“We also provide a performance bonus of up to $1,000 a month, but even then we’re still facing a shortage of staff,” said the owner.
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