Singapore: Migrant restaurant workers allegedly subjected to abusive working conditions amid high number of cos. liquidations across industry; incl. wage theft & 12-hour workdays
““We Worked 12 Hours A Day For Zero Pay”: The Harsh Realities Of F&B Work In Singapore”
It’s a tough time to be an F&B owner. Between January and October 2025, 2,431 establishments shut down, while 82% of those registered for up to five years had never made a profit, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). No one seems safe—not even Michelin-starred restaurants or once-popular chains, including Prive Group.
But it’s arguably an even tougher time to be an F&B worker—the cooks, servers, and dishwashers who often work under difficult conditions for low wages. When closures occur, many workers lose their means of sustenance, leaving themselves and their families without a livelihood. In the case of Twelve Cupcakes, which closed abruptly on 29 October 2025, 80 workers became jobless overnight without receiving an entire month’s pay…
Mei, 48, is one of the workers who lost her job at Twelve Cupcakes. A Chinese national…
Kyle Ahmad, 38, a local representative of the independent F&B worker collective Makan Minum Workers, added that chronic manpower shortages often cause staff to handle issues way beyond their job scope. This includes dishwashing, doing inventory, and managing part-timers. Even with these extra responsibilities, workers are seldom adequately compensated…