Wanted: Dishwashers for $4k a month
You don’t have to go all the way to Australia to earn $5,500 a month flipping pratas.
It looks like you can earn $4,000 right here in Singapore, just washing dishes at a restaurant.
Last month, when an eatery in Melbourne was looking for an experienced roti chef, the salary offered, with accommodation and food provided, appeared to be about twice what one may make in the same job here.
But such is the manpower crunch in the food and beverage sector that Shin Min Daily News has now reported some businesses are offering up to $4,000 a month for dishwashers, with hefty bonuses thrown in.
The outflow of workers with the pandemic and the tightening of foreign labour policies by the Singapore government led to a shortage of those willing to take the job.
Ms Chen Weixin, co-owner of Ishinomaki Grill & Sake in Orchard Road, told the newspaper that initially there were no takers for the job, and she had to roll up her sleeves and do it herself.
Other staff members she had approached didn’t want to take on the additional duty either, even for an extra $50 a day.
Finally they found a Malaysian worker, for $3,500 a month.
One solution is to outsource the job to a cleaning company, but this can be expensive.
Tung Lok Restaurants' chief executive officer Andrew Tjoe said they hired a cleaning company 10 years ago, paying up to $4,000 per worker.
This “saves us the worry of whether the dishwasher will be here today and gone tomorrow", he told Shin Min.
But Ms Chen said one cleaning company quoted $4,900 per worker and insisted she hire at least three.
"This would mean spending close to $15,000 a month on dishwashing alone," she was quoted as saying.
So, if you are tired of flipping pratas, even in Melbourne, maybe you should consider a change of job.
Just remember not to flip plates the same way.
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