Debated in Parliament on 18 Feb 2025.
Ms See Jinli Jean asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether there has been a significant churn of operators in the food and beverage businesses from 2022 to 2024; (b) if so, whether such churn has led to a constant resetting of wage-level for resident workers; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider working with relevant agencies to implement a sectoral skills accreditation framework for food and beverage services to enable workers to progress in wages and career within the sector despite sector churn.
There was a net increase of 746 food and beverage (F&B) businesses last year, with 3,793 new businesses and 3,047 closures1. This is up from 2022, when there was a net increase of 588 businesses, with 3,335 new businesses and 2,747 closures2. In this same period, the median income of full-time employed residents in the sector grew cumulatively by 4.6%, from $2,500 in 2022 to $2,616 in 20243.
The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the Food Services sector was launched in March 2023 to support the sustained growth of local wages by improving skills and raising productivity. Under the PWM, companies are required to send workers for mandatory training under the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework. The WSQ certified courses seek to develop in our workers a wide range of skills for various career pathways in the F&B sector and enable them to gain portable skillsets.
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