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TO HELP beat a labour crunch in the industry, one hotel is going after housewives and retirees.
The Royal Plaza on Scotts is the first hotel here to tap into this source of labour and, yesterday, it held a job fair to fill 40 part-time positions in its housekeeping, front-office and engineering departments, among others.
In recent months, employers in various industries hit by a manpower squeeze have been urged to tap sources such as the 500,000 or so women aged 25 years and above who are not working, and the growing number of retired Singaporeans.
Schools, for example, have been trying to woo retired teachers back into the classroom.
Yesterday, Royal Plaza on Scotts general manager Patrick Fiat said it was taking advantage of a $3 million initiative by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to hire new workers on flexible or part-time terms.
The incentive programme gives each company $100,000 to implement flexible or part-time work measures.
For Royal Plaza, this includes five four-hour days a week, or even shorter arrangements.
To sweeten the deal, part-timers will get perks usually available only to full-time workers: They will get 21 hours of annual leave for the first year, which gives them the option of working a shorter day, or not at all; 56 hours of medical leave; a pro-rated annual wage supplement; and medical and dental benefits.
NTUC deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How, the guest of honour at the opening of yesterday's fair, applauded the hotel's move.
He noted that with the economy expected to grow by 4 per cent to 6 per cent this year, the tight labour situation needs to be addressed. Flexible working hours to tap this pool of people is one way to go.
Among the 320 who turned up for an interview yesterday was housewife Pauziah Hussien, 48.
The former factory worker left her job three years ago to look after her grandchildren. But now that they are grown up and ready to go to school, she wants to work again, and applied for the post of kitchen helper or a job in housekeeping.
She said: 'Everything is so expensive now, so I want to work to help with the family income.'
Other hotels contacted by The Straits Times, including the Pan Pacific Singapore and Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel, say they will look into hiring part-timers to solve their labour crunch, adding that a dedicated benefit system for part-time employees is a good way of getting more people to join the industry.
weichean@sph.com.sg
Extra perks for part-timers
21 hours of annual leave for the first year;
56 hours of medical leave;
Pro-rated annual wage supplement; and
Medical and dental benefits.
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