Hoteliers urge more action to ease manpower woes Singapore hoteliers have greeted the recent Ministry of Manpower (MOM) moves to streamline foreign worker controls with mixed opinions. A spokesperson from the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) said the SHA welcomed the increase in the quota for the ‘S’ work pass from 5% to 10%,  effective 1 October, as well as the graduated reduction in levy for foreign workers within the 30% to 40% quota range. Commenting on the increase in the ‘S’ Pass quota, Mr Thierry Douin, General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, shown left, said: ‘This will benefit us in our search for foreign staff with higher educational qualifications.’ Dato John Beveridge, Manager of Grand Hyatt, said: ‘It will give the industry more opportunity to select employees from outside Singapore when we are unable to secure enough employees from within, thereby allowing selective criteria to focus on suitability for the position rather than settle for just what's available or accessible.’ SHA said in the longer term, these changes will give hoteliers more flexibility when hiring foreign workers.  Increase in levy for skilled foreign workers However, the SHA spokesperson noted with concern the increase in the levy for the skilled foreign worker from $100 to $150 per month ‘as most of the foreign workers hired by the industry fall within this category’. The MOM has said that the increase in the skilled foreign worker levy (FWL), effective 1 January 2007, was being done to ‘moderate the strong industry demand for foreign workers’. Saying this would result in increased costs, Mr Douin added: ‘There is no expansion from non-traditional sources. The current sources permitted from Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are themselves facing limited labour supply. ‘As such, even with the expansion of quota, this is only in name as already hotels cannot fill the current 30% let alone 35%.’ Mr Beveridge agreed that costs could rise, but added: ‘If it results in better service then it is a cost worth shouldering’. Industry wants more flexibility Asked what else the MOM could do to ease the manpower shortage in the hotel industry, he suggested a review of the six-year ceiling on manpower from China. ‘Once hired by the hotel, significant investment is made to conduct training particularly in the English language and efficiency skills. They then have to leave after peak performance at six years and one needs to start all over again for new batches coming in. ‘This resource returns to China or moves elsewhere with the Singapore industry's investment of time and money going with them. Hence, we feel that there is a need to increase the six year ceiling for PRC workers. ‘In addition, there is a need to consider the opening of Nontraditional Source (Work Permit) to the hospitality and service sector,’ said Mr Beveridge. Mr Douin agreed, saying there was a need to expand labour supply from sources like the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and China. He said it would be good if labour from China were permitted for ‘front-of-the-house’ positions instead of being limited to ‘heart-of-the-house’ roles. ‘I believe that ultimately the authorities will have no choice but to be more flexible as the IRs (Integrated Resorts) will create 30,000 jobs out of which many will be croupier positions. They will target the supervisory and mid management staff from the hospitality industry to fill these positions offering packages which will be very enticing,’ said Mr Douin. Training programmes are being developed To address the manpower shortage, SHA is working closely with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to come up with programmes that will encourage more locals (both young and mature workers) to join the hotel industry. The SHA spokesperson said: ‘Some of these measures include image building projects, ‘place and train’ programmes, job-recreation and job redesign. ‘Training and equipping the existing workforce with the skills and knowledge are also critical in ensuring quality service and efficiency despite the shortage in manpower. In this respect, SHA is also working with WDA on the upgrading and certification of skills of the workforce in the hotel industry through the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) scheme.’