Late hotel rooms for Penang guests due to labour shortage

 

Hotels in Penang have experienced a shortage in foreign workers, who have moved to the manufacturing and plantations sectors. (Bernama pic)

GEORGE TOWN: Hotel guests are being assigned their rooms late, especially in Penang’s tourist hotspots, due to the shortage of workers, says the hotels association.

K Raj Kumar, the Penang chairman of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, said many workers had sought employment elsewhere because of the impact of the almost two-year-long pandemic.

“Right now we are in critical need of 3D workers for room cleaning because the locals aren’t willing to do housekeeping jobs,” he said. 3D refers to dangerous, dirty and difficult jobs.

“In fact, based on information received, a lot of hotels are experiencing a labour shortage because many people are working in the manufacturing sector. We reckon every hotel is experiencing a 3D worker shortage of 30% to 40%,” he said.

“That’s the reason many visitors here have experienced long delays for rooms after checking in,” he explained after several guests complained on social media about having to wait till the evening to be assigned a room.

Raj Kumar said the problem became acute after travel restrictions were lifted and people began visiting Penang all at once.

The other reason is the lack of foreign workers, who have moved to other sectors.

“Right now, agents can’t supply extra workers because they are now in the manufacturing and plantations sectors. It is among the reasons hotels are short-staffed. Before, many hotels got extra foreign labour through agents,” he said.

To overcome this problem, most hotels have reduced their occupancy rates.

“For example, if they have 100 guest rooms, just 70 are open for booking. This is what a lot of hotels are doing at the moment to prevent guests being assigned their rooms late,” said Raj Kumar. - FMT