For those that have managed to ride through the lockdowns, revenues are down 25% and profits have been halved compared to pre-pandemic days.

Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas) president J Govindasamy said restaurants have had to shorten business hours because of the lack of manpower to cover more than one work shift.

“Many have gone from 24-hour service to 12 hours,” he told FMT Business.

Govindasamy said many foreign workers who were in Malaysia finally got the opportunity to return to their countries of origin when borders reopened on April 1. Restaurant owners, however, have been unable to replace them quickly enough.

“We are facing huge delays in our applications for permits,” he said.

In many cases, the lack of manpower has led to restaurants closing down permanently.

One such example is Humble Spicy Kitchen in Johor. Owner Sharmila Vijayandran told FMT Business she was forced to close her business after only one-and-a-half years in operation because of the loss of foreign workers after borders reopened.

Curry Leaf restaurant owner Dewayne Thanabalan also lamented the labour crunch which the industry is facing.

“We have been short of workers since last year,” he said. “As a result, we are now operating six days a week instead of seven.

“Most of our foreign workers have been desperate to return to their homeland, leaving us with no choice but to allow them to do so even though there were no promises on their part to return to Malaysia.”

Some restaurants have offered various incentives to woo workers. One in Petaling Jaya has promised to give new iPhones to anyone who signed up.

Govindasamy said another problem restaurant owners face now is a shortage of cooks who specialise in certain menus.

“As a result, restaurants have had to close down some stalls and discontinue certain items on the menu,” he said.