Many Singapore Polytechnic students under the hospitality programme are uninterested in joining the hospitality sector due to its semi-professional nature. The other reasons for not joining the sector include the over stressful and demanding job nature, long working hours, shift work, dealing with unpredictable circumstances in the job environment and having lower starting remuneration when set against other industries.
Students, particularly from a semi-traditional Asian-Singapore context, are also not encouraged to join the hospitality sector because of the industry image as being ‘servitude’ and having limited chance of promotion from rank-and-file. The institutions therefore is key to influencing the choice of career among students through their faculty, curriculum, resources and connections to the industry.
It is essential for hospitality schools in Singapore to manage student expectations before enrollment and during their course of study so that they will be encouraged to join the industry upon graduation. Industrial practitioners will also need to reevaluate their job environment, practices, wages and welfare benefits of their staff so as to retain and increase manpower for the industry to remain competitive.
Participate in the upcoming QS Subject Focus Summit – “The Way Forward: Hospitality and Tourism Education Convergence with Industry 4.0” which will be held from 5-7 December 2018 in Kuching, Malaysia.