KOTA KINABALU: Spa and wellness centre operators in Sabah are facing difficulties in hiring workers.
Starting today, Sabah government has allowed the centres to be opened with fully vaccinated customers and workers, with 50 per cent capacity.
Asian Health and Reflexology Therapy Centre operator Goon Thien Shang said since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced last year, the centre has been losing their staff.
"We are pleased with the state government's announcement to let us to reopen, otherwise more operators will close shop due to not having an income for one and a half years.
"The problem now is we are short of workers. The local workers are still in the villages and foreign workers not allowed to work.
"During the closure period, foreign workers were still required to renew their work permits even though the centres were not operating. Now we can resume business but they are not allowed to work here," said Goon.
Innerpeace Spa Consultancy Academy principal Alyssa Lim said the industry would still need foreign workers to meet the shortages.
"As we are running an academy, we can only plan our intake, so we may be unable to cater to the industry immediately.
"We are also hoping to assist the spa and wellness centres to open and assist them in applying for the Penjana Kerjaya 3.0 hiring incentive (for internship)."
Although the institute is going to have new students next month to cater for the industry, Lim added that it would not be easy to find locals compared with the foreign workers.
She said this was due to news reports that often associated vice activities with wellness centres.