All hands on deck to cope with influx of visitors

Armaya says she can barely keep up with the increasing number of guests as she is the sole worker at the homestay.

BUSINESSES, especially tourism industry players, are finally seeing better days after the reopening of the border with Singapore.

Johor Baru’s streets seem to have returned to their pre-pandemic state, whereby traffic congestion is frequent and Singaporean visitors can be seen around the city.

Tay says the hospitality sector urgently needs workers.

Now, however, businesses here are faced with a major challenge in coping with the sudden influx of visitors – a shortage of manpower.

A hotel marketing and communication manager, Keyin Tay, 34, said the hospitality sector in Johor needed workers urgently as the number of guests was exceeding the capacity of most hotels.

“We have been trying to employ more workers but it has not been easy as many people prefer working in Singapore, because of its stronger currency.

“There are also those who have lost faith in the tourism industry after what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The biggest problem we face now is the slow approval process for our foreign worker applications, mostly for the roles of housekeepers and security officers,” she told StarMetro. (Prior to the pandemic, the roles were filled by foreign workers but they returned to their home countries during the movement control order.)

Tay said the staffing problem became apparent during the long Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Labour Day and Wesak Day holidays in early May.

“It was one of the busiest times we have ever seen.

“We had customers who had to wait for hours just to check in despite our best efforts to work as quickly as we could.

“All 200-plus rooms in the hotel were fully booked and we were operating with only about 50% of the workforce needed to run things at full capacity,” she said.

Nazly says the hospitality sector is facing the biggest manpower shortage of housekeepers.

A hotel housekeeping manager, Nazly Abd Rahman, 44, said the most prominent manpower shortage in the hospitality sector was for housekeepers.

“We got to a point where we needed help from staff from every other department to help clean rooms during the busy period in early May.

“Our security officers, front desk receptionists, marketing, engineering and IT departments colleagues all pitched in to help our housekeeping team, which has fewer than 10 people.

“It was a bizarre, never-seen- before situation for us but thanks to the great teamwork from our colleagues, we were able to cope with the spike in demand,” said Nazly.

“We are looking into employing our two part-time housekeepers as full-time staff while sourcing for more workers as we prepare to have more guests in the months to come,” she said.

Johor Baru hotel owner Alice Chan, 56, said she too was trying to employ more workers as the occupancy rate at her hotel had now gone up to about 80%, compared to only between 10% and 20% previously.

“At the moment, we can still cope with five employees.

“Previously, we only had one full-time worker while the rest would only come in upon request. However, our workers now have full shifts.

“Our busy days typically begin on Thursdays and reach its peak during weekends. Many of our guests are Singaporeans,” she said.

In the Kulai district, homestay housekeeper Armaya Dastan, 43, said it had been increasingly difficult for her to cope with the rising number of guests as she was the sole worker at the facility.

“I have been working at the homestay for over nine years and was the sole worker for most of the time.

“It was challenging but I have been able to cope as visitors would not all come at the same time.

“However, after the border reopened, there was a sudden spike in the number of guests.

“At times, I had no choice but to inform our guests to check in at a later time. Thankfully, they have been understanding.

“My employer is trying his best to hire another employee but it has been difficult finding a candidate. I hope that he will be able to hire one before the next holiday season,” she added.

Tan says his homestay has been fully booked every weekend since early April.

In the Pontian district, another homestay owner Tan Kian Hui, 29, said he had been getting more bookings and his homestay had been fully booked every weekend since early April.

“I have a few part-time workers but I do most of the cleaning myself. For now, I can still cope as the high demand is only during the weekends.

“However, there has been a gradual increase in bookings for other days in the past two weeks and I am trying to get full-time employees,” he said.

Also facing problems with labour shortage are eateries in Johor Baru which are highly dependent on foreign workers.

Johor Indian-Muslim Entrepreneur Association (Perusim) secretary Hussein Ibrahim, who also owns two restaurants in Johor Baru, said he might have to shut down one of his shops temporarily if the situation persisted.

“While we are very grateful for business, the lack of manpower is bogging us down and we have had to limit our operating hours.

“We face the possibility of temporarily shutting down our shops.

“This is partly because most of our foreign workers have requested to return to their home country and it would be unfair for us to refuse their requests, so we need to find replacement workers,” he said.

Johor Baru Business and Hawker Association president Roland Lim, who owns a coffee shop in Johor Baru, said many businesses were also trying to employ locals to cope with the demand.

“With the open border, many locals are rushing to seek employment in Singapore, which is facing a shortage of workers too.

“As such, it is difficult for us to get locals to work even if we offer a good salary and bonuses.

“In fact, some workers are even leaving their jobs here for better- paying jobs across the Causeway,” he said.