Long hours, low pay, heavy workload are why many left the service sector

SHAH ALAM - Long working hours, low pay and overwhelming workload are some of the reasons why many in the service industry are leaving their jobs entirely for better prospects.

But there are some who can't afford to do, citing immediate commitments and responsibility that often led them to stay on working in the service industry.

Speaking to Sinar Daily, Nadirah (not her real name) have been working in the service industry for almost a year and have made plans to quit the industry entirely.

Nadirah, who works in the hospitality sector, stated that many of her friends have quit or opted to quit as their respective employers are struggling to pay proper wages or dealing with worker shortages that left many in the industry to be overworked and severely underpaid.

“We are underpaid and the workload can be overwhelming especially when you have to deal with customers,” she told Sinar Daily.

While many of the country's economic sectors have opened, with assurances from the government that there will not be any more nationwide lockdown, Nadirah briefly explained that the pandemic has opened new opportunities to job seekers.

She stated that many service industry workers are taking online classes to reskill or upskill so that they can get better jobs and pay elsewhere, with many expressing their reluctance to return to the service industry.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Alexa (not her real name) who have been working two years as a waiter said the long hours work hours are simply "draining".

“I was always feeling tired and stressed as I had to fill in for the shortage of staff," she said further sighing over the fact that she had to get used to working overtime frequently even on her off days and public holidays.

Another staff who wanted to be known as Nana said the low pay and long hours were tiring and it was the main reason for the high turnover rate.

“Some of my colleagues sent in resignation letter just after a few weeks of working here,” Nana added.

If she has to give a rating of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, she would tick 8 for being overworked, describing the nature of the job.

There is also no future in the waiting job and youths would prefer to be jobless than to be in the "thankless job", she said.

Malaysia's overall unemployment rate is 4.6 per cent, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. While this is an improvement from the highest rate of 5.3 per cent in May 2020, the government aims to reduce it further to 4 per cent next year.

However, serving jobs in the service industry are considered as "3D" or dirty, difficult, and dangerous and many locals are reluctant to take on these jobs, forcing businesses to employ foreigners to take on the jobs.