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New frameworks launched charting trends, jobs and skills needed in retail and food services sectors

SINGAPORE — At Indian restaurant chain Muthu’s Curry, patrons’ requests for water, the tab or service go straight to waiters’ wrists — via smartwatches, that is.

Two new skills frameworks for the retail and food services sectors were unveiled on Friday (Aug 4), charting the trends and job opportunities in each sector, career paths, and the skills needed for various roles. TODAY file photo

Two new skills frameworks for the retail and food services sectors were unveiled on Friday (Aug 4), charting the trends and job opportunities in each sector, career paths, and the skills needed for various roles. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — At Indian restaurant chain Muthu’s Curry, patrons’ requests for water, the tab or service go straight to waiters’ wrists — via smartwatches, that is.

In April, the restaurant rolled out Samsung smartwatches across its three outlets at Race Course Road, Suntec City and Dempsey Road, said its operations director Srinivasan Ayyakannu, 39.

Patrons make their requests for items such as water through electronic tablets, and seconds later, an alert pops up on waiters’ watches.

“The staff (member) who is nearest the water-point will just pick it up and (send it to the table),” said Mr Srinivasan.

The 48-year-old eatery sank about S$250,000 into the smartwatches and other technologies, including the electronic tablets and a kitchen display system.

Mr Srinivasan said the investment has raised efficiency as the eatery seeks to rely less on labour. It has reduced the need to hire part-time staff during peak periods, such as Mother’s Day, since waiters no longer have to take orders and can assume other duties.

Muthu’s Curry is one of many food-and-beverage businesses that have turned to technology to bump up productivity and reinvent processes amid a manpower crunch in recent years.

Speaking at the inaugural Adapt & Grow Food Services & Retail Day in Paya Lebar on Friday (Aug 4), Second Manpower Minister Josephine Teo urged businesses to follow the lead of companies that surmount manpower hurdles, often by ratcheting up technology use.

She noted that bright spots remain in the food services and retail industries, which collectively make up more than 3 per cent of Singapore’s economy and employ about 11 per cent of the country’s workforce. Technology is also a boon for older workers, making once-strenuous tasks less taxing and more productive, and work environments safer. More than half the workers in the food services and retail sectors are aged 40 and older, Mrs Teo said.

Her comments came as two new skills frameworks for the retail and food services sectors were unveiled on Friday, charting the trends and job opportunities in each sector, career paths, and the skills needed for various roles. It also points workers to training programmes that will arm them with the skills to take on various jobs.

The food service framework spans 52 roles across seven tracks, including pastry and baking, and culinary arts, while the retail framework spans 24 key jobs across five tracks, such as retail operations and merchandising.

A visual merchandiser in the retail sector, for instance, would require skills such as brand campaign management and business operational planning. A kitchen assistant in a central kitchen would call for skills in packaging food products and adhering to food-production standards.

Ms Nicole Francine Fernandez, 32, assistant marketing manager with fashion brand Pedro, said the skills framework would give retail-industry workers clarity on various career paths.

“It manages your expectations (and) opens up your mind. It helps (point you to) certain courses you ... should be aware of,” she added.

Mr Jageer Singh, 32, general manager of restaurant and catering group Riverwalk Tandoor, said the framework would help the company better tailor its in-house training for employees and also craft more detailed requirements when looking for workers.

It also gives staff members more confidence of “their progression”, he added.

In the first half of this year, more than 400 firms in the two sectors have embarked on projects under the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme, which helps companies transform and grow. Since 2015, more than 1,100 companies in these sectors have jumped on the bandwagon.

Saying the “momentum is there”, Mrs Teo urged firms that have not latched on to “start talking to one of the agencies”.

The two-day Food Services & Retail Day at the Lifelong Learning Institute, which seeks to draw about 500 jobseekers, runs until Saturday.

It includes a career fair with nearly 1,200 openings — including store manager and assistant chef positions — with 34 employers, such as restaurant chain Fish & Co and retailers Soo Kee Group and Metro.

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