The Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) has said the industry is experiencing an "acute manpower shortage", and the industry is increasingly looking to casual workers and part-timers to fill the gaps. The severe manpower shortage is especially seen in housekeeping and F&B.
SHA's manpower survey found that the average room-to-staff ratio is currently at a low 0.6. This means that a hotel with 100 rooms, for instance, would only have about 60 staff, on average. That is the lowest figure since the survey was started in 1994. Margaret Heng, executive director of the Singapore Hotel Association, said: "Three years ago, we were hovering between 0.7 to 0.8. In the 80s, we were actually 2:1 (two staff to one hotel room). In that sense, we have really gone down in the room-manning ratio.
"There are two ways of looking at it. One of course is that we have been very productive, in the sense that we are now more automated in our processes, we are using a lot of technology. But at the same time, it could also be that we are having difficulty in attracting and recruiting the right people into the industry."
SHA said a low room-to-staff ratio can also have a negative impact on service standards. Together with the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), the SHA has set up an online registry to link hotels with job-seekers interested in casual work. It also means possible training opportunities for casual workers.
e2i said it will contact those on the registry and offer them relevant Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses. Ang Hin Kee, CEO of the Employment and Employability Institute, said: "When the individuals sign up on the registry, we will be able to contact them and assess their training needs, and encourage them to take up these training (courses), so that when they come onboard to the employers, they will have the right competencies needed for the job.
"It can range from literacy in terms of being able to speak well at the workplace, (to) customer service, interacting with guests...down the line, we can also handle training in terms of cashiering services, handling credit card payments and the like."The aim is to create a database of casual but skilled labour that can respond to the industry's cyclical needs.
Mr Ang said: "You will see casual labour of a whole multitude, ranging from those just starting - could be a student on school holidays - or those with lots of experience, familiar with six or seven hotels, and be able to be deployed to any of these hotels in a moment's notice and hit the ground running."The registry is also targeting unemployed adults, back-to-work women and retirees who are Singaporeans and Permanent Residents.