Malaysia's MCO to put more pressure on manpower and supply costs for F&B firms

MALAYSIA'S latest Movement Control Order (MCO) will exacerbate a manpower shortage and cost issues that have plagued food and beverage (F&B) firms in Singapore for nearly a year now, companies in the sector told The Business Times (BT).

The silver lining is that companies have also adjusted to the manpower and supply-chain disruptions over the last several months. As a result, most firms anticipate a rise in costs but no significant disruptions resulting from the new MCO.

Manpower costs have been rising since Malaysia implemented its first MCO in March 2020. The pool of workers has stagnated and even shrunk as some decided to return home after being away from their families for several months, and employers have had to offer pay raises ranging from S$250 for kitchen assistants to S$1,000 for staff with special expertise.