The Jobs Transformation Map (JTM) for the Food Services sector was launched today by Minister of State for Trade & Industry Ms Low Yen Ling at Restaurant Asia 2023.

The Food Services sector contributed S$4.5 billion to Singapore’s economy and employed about 235,500 workers in 2022¹. Total employment, including local employment, has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The sector boasts a vibrant food scene with close to 12,000 F&B companies², covering a wide range of local and international cuisines, from homegrown F&B brands to Michelin-starred restaurants. To elevate its status as a leading lifestyle hub, Food Services trade associations and chambers (TACs) – 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 which employ approximately 80,000 workers, to transform their jobs in line with the JTM.

Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), supported by Workforce Singapore (WSG), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), worked with Ernst & Young to develop the JTM. This follows on from the Food Services Industry Transformation Map launched in May last year.

To ensure that the sector remains vibrant with attractive jobs for Singaporeans, the JTM recommends strategies that employers and workers can adopt to enhance their competitiveness and capabilities given the advancements in technology and the impact that global and local trends have had on job roles and skills in the Food Services sector. It also highlights the role that educational institutions can play to build a competent workforce for the future.

Changes to job roles and new emerging roles

The trends in the Food Services sector include:

• Shifts in consumer preferences: There is a growing demand for convenient foods, personalised and experiential services, along with an increasing consumer awareness around sustainability.

• Increased technology adoption: More companies are adopting technology and systems to augment or perform manual and repetitive tasks, freeing time for workers to focus on value-added work.

• Workforce needs: The sector has a high reliance on an ageing workforce and faces a shortage of workers for lower-skilled jobs. Companies have increasingly been adopting alternative labour options, technology and job redesign to stay competitive.

The JTM studied how 30 significant job roles within the Food Services sector will be impacted in line with the trends:

• Of the 30 job roles, 40% are expected to undergo a medium or high degree of change and require extensive to moderate job redesign for enhanced scope or responsibilities. There is potential for job roles such as service crew, station chef and kitchen assistant to be reconfigured to include new skillsets, as technology replaces manual tasks. For example, the roles of a service crew and kitchen assistant can be adapted to become a Food & Beverage Operations Associate. This involves the worker to be well-versed in back-of-house operations like basic food preparation and front-of-house operations like handling of technology tools (e.g. mobile ordering systems). Being adept in cross-functional roles can support workers in their career progression.

• The remaining 18 job roles such as executive chef, operations director and multi-outlet manager, may experience lesser degree of change but continuous upskilling can help them to remain competitive. 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.

• In-demand skills that workers will need to be equipped with include business management skills, digital skills, green skills, customer experience skills and creative technical skills.

• Four new job roles may emerge, resulting from the rising trends in technology and sustainability, namely Revenue Manager, Customer Retention Specialist, Restaurant Designer, and Sustainability Specialist.

Recommendations of the JTM

To build a resilient and future-ready workforce that drives an innovative and sustainable Food Services sector, collective efforts from employers, workers and educational institutions would amplify the impact arising from JTM report’s recommendations.

(A) Employers can actively design future-fit operations, optimise processes, and recast employment practices

Employers can redesign their operations around the opportunities and challenges of the future to remain competitive. Leveraging technology and data analytics can help companies optimise operational processes, including automation and minimising repetitive tasks. To drive this, companies can support their workers through job redesign. Roles can be adjusted and enhanced so that workers are able to take on expanded or higher-value job scopes, with better career progression and wages.

For example, AC Concepts Group, which runs multi-concept restaurants serving various types of cuisines, uses data to drive decision making and operations. The company introduced a live data dashboard to track business metrics and customer insights through the Point of Sale (POS) system, which allowed it to make informed decisions on areas such as manpower resourcing. The company is now looking to launch an accelerator programme to mentor aspiring chefs.

Companies looking to redesign jobs can tap the Support for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) for consultancy services to redesign work processes, tasks and responsibilities. PSG-JR provides up to 70% funding support for eligible activities.

(B) Workers can look forward to upskilling opportunities to keep pace with the sector demands

Workers in food services companies are encouraged to embrace new skillsets that will further their professional development. For example, after joining the company full time in August 2020, Ms Celina Kuninaka, an Assistant Hospitality Manager at Jigger & Pony Group³, actively attended bartending classes and learnt about bar operations, which was outside her job scope. This allowed her to better understand her colleagues' roles and enhance cross-functional collaboration between front and back-of-house operations to improve customer engagement.

To equip workers with the relevant skills needed for emerging roles such as Business Management Skills and Digital Skills, companies can make use of initiatives, such as WSG’s Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs). The CCP for the Food Services sector helps reskill existing workers for new roles and provides up to 90% wage support. Since January 2022, 47 companies have tapped the CCPs, benefiting more than 300 workers. For instance, McDonald's embarked on the CCP in April 2023, leveraging technological solutions such as self-service kiosks and a mobile ordering system to help employees with order-taking. With fewer employees required at the front-of-house, their job scopes were redesigned to take on more kitchen duties and to focus on providing hospitality to drive positive customers’ dining experience at McDonald’s.

(C) Educational Institutions can play a role

Educational institutions can work with food services companies to promote continuous upskilling and reskilling of workers, enabling them to develop new capabilities for in-demand skills and embark on training pathways for emerging job roles with good career progression prospects.

For full report on the JTM for Food Services sector: Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs)

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About Workforce Singapore (WSG)

Workforce Singapore promotes the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness, and employability of all levels of the workforce. Its key mission is to enable Singaporeans to meet their career aspirations, take on quality jobs at different stages of life, and help enterprises be competitive and manpower lean. Workforce Singapore’s focus is on strengthening the Singaporean core and ensuring that Singaporeans are able to have better jobs and careers. Workforce Singapore, in partnership with key stakeholders, also provides support to business owners and companies to enable them to transform and grow, while building a future-ready workforce. Visit www.wsg.gov.sg for more information

_{¹Department of Statistics, 2022. Gross Domestic Product In Chained (2015) Dollars, Food & Beverage Services. Ministry of Manpower, 2022.
²Department of Statistics, 2021.
³She started out as a Hospitality Associate in the company in March 2015.}