Mangaluru: Hotels, restaurants reel under shortage of workers


Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jun 8: Hotels and restaurants in coastal Karnataka are preparing to open for customers from Monday, June 8. But medium and large-sized hotels may encounter problems if they fail to get enough number of cooking and cleaning staff at the last minute.

A few smaller hotels have been operating parcel service now but the customer response has been lackadaisical. On Monday, it is guessed, ordinary hotels and those which are dependent on a small number of workers and others where family members of owners work together may start functioning.


Representational image

The hotels have an additional worry on hand. They have to strictly follow the government guidelines and see that customers to abide by rules. They need to make arrangements for maintaining physical distance, keep track of hygiene, and dispense sanitizers. A few hotel owners have confirmed having made these arrangements.

Workers from other districts who were working for hotels here have gone back to their homes. As per expectations, they may not come back for a couple of months more. Until then, the hotels have to be run at a subdued capacity. The industry has already suffered huge losses. The hotel owners are also worried by the thin attendance in buses and are afraid that this phenomenon might hurt their prospects.

The problem of workers is acute in hotels located particularly in Udupi, Kundapur, and Karkala. Because of coronavirus scare, workers who stay far away are reluctant to travel by buses, and new workers are not coming forward. The problem is expected to ease as time passes, says Dakshina Kannada District Hotel Owners Association president, Kudpi Jagadeesh Shenoy.

Devaraj Kalladka, who was working as a supplier at Mangaluru and currently spending time at hometown, Kalladka, says that he got the call from a hotel owner to come back to work but his family is stopping him because of fear that he could contract coronavirus. He says that now he has been attending to some local jobs.

 

  

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Comment on this article

  • Aloysius, Kinnigoli

    Tue, Jun 09 2020

    I am sure these restaurant and small hotel workers not having any type of benefits or provident funds except wage.
    But as good gesture owner of these establishment can open an account, deduct certain percentage like 5% of employees salary and add equivalent % from his side and keep a recurring deposit and make an agreement that they can withdraw this total amount only after certain aged lock in time.
    Defiantly all workers will be more loyal to the employer.

    DisAgree Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jd, Mangalore

    Tue, Jun 09 2020

    If the employer has shown concern during lockdown, then they will come back.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [6] Reply Report Abuse

  • ThomasAquin, Mangalore

    Tue, Jun 09 2020

    A hotel owner can make a 30% profit at max if he is lucky. 20% if sale is good enough. How long can he afford to pay full salary of workers? One month. At max two months. Without a clear cut formula as to when he will open for business and with a possibilty of new announcement at 8pm, he will not keep staff on the roll. Now when things open up, its as good as starting a new business all over again. The real impact of this suffering imposed on the business community is yet to be felt. The coming days will reveal.

    DisAgree Agree [12] Reply Report Abuse

  • Shan, Mlr

    Tue, Jun 09 2020

    As fr now takeaway is best option for restaurants ...u can adjust how much staff u have dine in is much more risky fr restaurant as well as fr staff n customer s dnt evn folks should think about dine in fr atleast 2020 dec ...jeeva boda banjji boda decide malpule.

    DisAgree Agree [8] Reply Report Abuse

  • H. Almeida., Bendur/Andheri

    Mon, Jun 08 2020

    The hospitality industry consists of hotels, restaurants and bar's are facing intense heat, due to migrant laborers, who have all fled to their villages and hometowns !!!!! Likewise real estate and construction infrastructures have collapsed !!! There are no buyers for ready stocks, resulting in a huge market crash !!! Investors are wailing and ranting, as Ache din has vanished, leaving Bure din till eternity !!!!!

    DisAgree [4] Agree [13] Reply Report Abuse

  • Sahil, Mangaluru

    Mon, Jun 08 2020

    Owner should think twice and provide benefits scheme for sincere, honest and hard workers.... Not swallowing all the profit.....

    DisAgree [3] Agree [40] Reply Report Abuse

  • FD, Mangalore

    Tue, Jun 09 2020

    @Sahil

    Swallowing all the profit? In the current circumstances I doubt if the restaurant owners will even cover basic expenses let alone profit. Rent itself is usually over 1 lakh and for higher end restaurants with more space it will be a lot more.
    1.5-2 lakhs average rent is very common in desirable locations.
    Plus electricity 1-1.5 lakhs.
    If the restaurant has loans then that is additional.
    The salaries will then add up to 2-2.5 lakhs depending on number of employees. (Cooks, cleaners, dishwashers, waiters, maybe even security, manager, supervisors, etc) For some restaurants it can be more.

    The restaurant will need to make between 15-20 lakhs per month at 30 percent profit margin to break even. With all current restrictions this is very unlikely.

    And don't forget, most restaurant owners will need to pay rent for last two months when restaurant wasn't open.

    DisAgree Agree [3] Reply Report Abuse


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