4 in 10 jobs in food sector to be redesigned under Jobs Transformation Map

SINGAPORE – Four in 10 jobs in the food services industry need to be redesigned over the next three years, to make the sector attractive to Singaporeans so that it can remain vibrant.

Moderate to extensive changes will be needed to increase the scope and responsibilities of roles, in response to a shortage of workers and technology advancements.

Jobs in the sector that have been identified for redesign include service crew and kitchen assistant roles, as well as executive chef, operations director and multi-outlet manager.

These developments come under a Jobs Transformation Map (JTM) for the food services sector that was announced by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling on Thursday morning at Restaurant Asia 2023, a three-day food and beverage (F&B) symposium and trade show at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

Jointly developed by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), Workforce Singapore, SkillsFuture Singapore and the Manpower Ministry with professional services firm Ernst & Young, the road map recommends strategies for employers and workers to enhance their competitiveness and capabilities.

“The JTM will serve as a compass to guide companies and workers in their job transformation journey... It will help them prepare for the future of work in the food services sector as the business environment evolves,” said Ms Low, noting that the food services industry contributed $4.5 billion to Singapore’s economy and employed about 235,000 workers in 2022.

According to the Department of Statistics, the sector comprises close to 12,000 F&B companies, spanning everything from home-grown brands to Michelin-starred restaurants.

Ms Low said that besides a shift in consumer preferences towards convenience, personalised and experiential services, and awareness of sustainable practices, the rate of technology adoption to augment or perform tasks across operations has also accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

An ageing local workforce and youth’s changing career aspirations have also led to greater competition for workers, resulting in the need for firms to redesign jobs and explore options such as part-time workers, she added.

In a media statement, EnterpriseSG noted that besides a high reliance on an ageing workforce, the sector faces a shortage of workers for lower-skilled jobs. Hence, firms have increasingly tapped alternative labour options, technology and job redesign to stay competitive.

Findings from the JTM, which assessed 30 significant job roles in the food services sector, showed that 40 per cent of these roles are expected to undergo a medium or high degree of change and require extensive to moderate redesign.

Roles that require a high degree of change are those of service crew and kitchen assistant. EnterpriseSG said these can be adapted to become more cross-functional, like an operations associate role, which requires the worker to be well versed in both back-of-house operations such as basic food preparation, as well as front-of-house operations like mobile ordering systems.

Roles that may experience a lesser degree of change include executive chef, operations director and multi-outlet manager.

“For example, while an executive chef can rely on technology to assist with tasks such as analysing operational profitability for the outlet, the job role remains largely strategic in nature,” said EnterpriseSG.

Skills that are in demand include those in the areas of business management and customer experience, and creative technical skills, said EnterpriseSG, adding that new roles may emerge, such as customer retention specialist and sustainability specialist, given the rising trend of technology and sustainability.

Businesses in Singapore, however, are facing more immediate challenges and looking to adapt to changing consumer behaviour.

“Everyone thought everything would go back to normal (after the pandemic), but people are travelling more and not going out as much,” noted Timbre Group chief executive Danny Loong in a panel during Restaurant Asia on Thursday. “The reality is that it has been more challenging this year.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Harry’s International chief executive Nasen Thiagarajan, who said footfall has been dipping at Harry’s almost 20 outlets.

“This is maybe due to people working from home on Fridays... Footfall has gone down by half, with the rise from Monday to Thursday insufficient to cover Friday’s shortfall,” said Mr Thiagarajan, adding that the focus has shifted to improving the quality of customer experience.

“With digitalisation, we’ve been getting the back-end systems integrated to give us granular details... by translating the data correctly, we recognise upfront things like which customer is returning for the third time this week, so that the staff can continue to up their service standard,” he said.

“One staff member already has to perform various roles such as waiter, cashier and bartender, so with something like the JTM, now I can send my guys to be retrained and have their skills refreshed,” he added.

Companies can tap the Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant for consultancy services to redesign work processes, tasks and responsibilities. The grant provides up to 70 per cent funding support.

There is also the Career Conversion Programme for reskilling newly hired individuals, as well as helping existing workers move into new, redesigned, or emerging roles such as data analytics and sustainability. The programme provides up to 90 per cent wage support. There are also SkillsFuture series courses and Work-Study Programmes available.

Food services trade associations and chambers – including the Restaurant Association of Singapore, Association of Catering Professionals Singapore and Singapore Nightlife Business Association – have committed to work with over 800 of their member companies to transform their jobs in line with the JTM. These employ around 80,000 workers.

The JTM follows on from the Food Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025 that was announced by Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong at the same event in 2022, and the Food Services Industry Digital Plan (IDP), which was launched in November 2022.

While the ITM focused on fostering an innovative and resilient food services sector anchored on a bedrock of home-grown brands going regional, the IDP mapped out digital solutions for companies to be more data-driven and efficient in their operations.