The Big Read: At your service — or perhaps not, as manpower crunch worsens for hotels and restaurants
SINGAPORE — After forking out more than S$2,000 for a three-night staycation at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa in November last year, Ms Wendy Chong and her family were told that their room was not ready when they arrived at the scheduled check-in time.
- Since the pandemic started, border restrictions have worsened the longstanding manpower crunch in the hotel and F&B sectors
- Customers say they are experiencing a drop in service quality, even though they acknowledge the challenges faced by the businesses
- Industry players, too, admit that they struggle to upkeep the quality of service, as there simply aren't enough warm bodies.
- Some hotels and restaurants have tried to mitigate the impact by accelerating digitalisation and the adoption of technology but there are limitations
- Experts say that even if border restrictions ease in the coming months, any inflow of foreign labour that could ease the crunch will likely be gradual and intermittent
15 Jan 2022 08:00AM
(Updated: 31 Jan 2025 05:43PM)
Source: TODAY
