Where can we find workers for coffee shop here in Pattaya?

[brummiebob]

McDonald's and Starbucks or even MK restaurants might pay close to minimum wage but they get to wear uniforms and have all that 'aspirational' image rub off on them,

Some are in it to look for a Farang husband, and once they have achieved their goals, they're gone.

These companies don't skimp out on training either, so on day one when these kids got sent to meet customers, they are already indoctrinated/vetted ie. those that will leave probably would have left during the training phase anyway

In my experience, those that are smart enough are smart enough to look somewhere else, so I'm stuck with the most clueless who walk in on the first help wanted sign they found, even the clueless ones left once they wisened up to the choices available to them in the job market.

So, in the short time before they leave, you have impress upon them why should they remain working for you, not the other way round these days, it doesn't need to be better pay, things like flexibility in working hours, allowing them to develop skills, at least see that's there's a career path or at least tolerable working conditions, that might means turning a blind eyes towards a few of their habits.

[stockholm1995]

Thanks for all suggestions.

I have to agree with lemoncake "DO NOT pay more to start with, because you will not get better people or work quality."

Paying 400-500 from first day wouldn´t be a good solution but i would pay more than 300 to right worker after couple of months.

If we pay 400-500/day from first day, then we have to pay 600 after 6 months and that´s just tooo much.

My wife has been asking the restaurants owners she knows and they proposed the minimum from first day but pay more when you see the job quality.

We are not looking for someone with PhD in english, just someone who can explain the products for customers.

Our location is between 2:nd and 3:rd road Pattaya klang. Customer: 50-50 thai-foreigner

working 6days a week.

[Gone]

Thanks for all suggestions.

I have to agree with lemoncake "DO NOT pay more to start with, because you will not get better people or work quality."

Paying 400-500 from first day wouldn´t be a good solution but i would pay more than 300 to right worker after couple of months.

If we pay 400-500/day from first day, then we have to pay 600 after 6 months and that´s just tooo much.

My wife has been asking the restaurants owners she knows and they proposed the minimum from first day but pay more when you see the job quality.

We are not looking for someone with PhD in english, just someone who can explain the products for customers.

Our location is between 2:nd and 3:rd road Pattaya klang. Customer: 50-50 thai-foreigner

working 6days a week.

I think you will have a hard time finding, training and then keeping staff for sure as you seem to only want to pay minimum wage which many people have already said that it would cut it in Sakon Nowhere (oh yeah I said that) but NOT in Pattaya. I don't think you are supplying accommodations by the sounds of it so why would any staff stay with you when Pattaya is much more expensive then rural Thailand where minimum wage was really set for.

And don't forget it's not only that staff leaves but they also have a habit of taking a few things with them when they do.

Anyways you seem to have it all figured out and look forward to seeing how you are doing in a year or so paying minimum wage etc.

[seasia]

Some. More details would be helpful , location? , working hours?, starting salary then maybe someone could help you.

Location: Pattaya klang

Working hours: 16:00-00:00

Starting salary: 300 baht/day ( for rookies )

Hi

I don`t think you are being unfair, for a beginner.

Purely as an example and if it helps you re. current costs etc my GF works in a leading supermarket in Pattaya.

She started on slightly less, has worked there 18 months now, with only 2 un scheduled days off in all that time.( Genuinely ill and phoned in to advise so)

8 hours a day, 5 days off a month plus an extra 7 days off per year.

She now gets approx 13 K per month plus free quality medical insurance and some sort of pension.

Uniform provided, she works hard, speaks excellent English.

Nope, not looking for an alternative for her, just mentioning in case it helps you get an idea of what is on offer.

BTW. The same supermarket struggle to retain staff.

The room maid where we live earns 5500 baht a month( large Thai owned apartment building), and yes fully aware that is below the minimum.

Been here 3 years or so, 2 days off a month to the best of my knowledge..

Local coffee shop pays approx 9500- 10 K per month, to start

Just for info and wish you the best of luck with staff and your endeavour, not easy.

[lemoncake]

Thanks for all suggestions.

I have to agree with lemoncake "DO NOT pay more to start with, because you will not get better people or work quality."

Paying 400-500 from first day wouldn´t be a good solution but i would pay more than 300 to right worker after couple of months.

If we pay 400-500/day from first day, then we have to pay 600 after 6 months and that´s just tooo much.

My wife has been asking the restaurants owners she knows and they proposed the minimum from first day but pay more when you see the job quality.

We are not looking for someone with PhD in english, just someone who can explain the products for customers.

Our location is between 2:nd and 3:rd road Pattaya klang. Customer: 50-50 thai-foreigner

working 6days a week.

I think you will have a hard time finding, training and then keeping staff for sure as you seem to only want to pay minimum wage which many people have already said that it would cut it in Sakon Nowhere (oh yeah I said that) but NOT in Pattaya. I don't think you are supplying accommodations by the sounds of it so why would any staff stay with you when Pattaya is much more expensive then rural Thailand where minimum wage was really set for.

And don't forget it's not only that staff leaves but they also have a habit of taking a few things with them when they do.

Anyways you seem to have it all figured out and look forward to seeing how you are doing in a year or so paying minimum wage etc.

In rural area's hardly anyone pays the minimum.

OP is in the business of unskilled labor and unskilled labor gets paid minimum.

Skilled labor does not work in coffee shops.

Training also costs money and time so is covering their endless mistakes.

[tolsti]

it comes down to a) what you are paying and how you are looking after staff. 300 bht is the minimum wage but if there are no other incentives you cannot really expect to recruit experienced staff albeit in Pattaya or Phuket.

You need to remember that as an employer you are Father, Grand Father, Irresponsible Uncle and Brother to your staff and all at the same time.

You need to hug, scold, reward and bully.

Accommodation is a great incentive. It means that you can attract people from other provinces without their having to worry about where they are going to sleep.

Staff food adds a loyalty that grows. Feed your staff properly and they will stay.

Pay their social security and make sure they get a card for a local hospital.

Last but not least..... train... train and train. If you have no idea how to make a coffee.... how can you expect your staff to?

[JimmyTheMook]

I know a 24 year old waitress/cashier that explained to me how giving change is a science to maximise the tip potential. She judges the look of the customer, the dress, general demeanour, attitude, what they purchase, how they interact with the staff etc, whether they have a car or bike.... and that determines what format the change will be given in.

If the change is 100B, she will vary the denominations given to different customers to extract the highest possibility of increasing the tip potential. She explained the logic but some of the detail was way over my head. One example was that if she assumed the customer was a Baht Bus customer, she would not give any 10B coins if possible, only 20's. If she got good vibes from a customer she would make sure the change contained a 50 and a 10 - expecting a 30 or maybe a 50B tip. She had it all figured out and had her staff giving her feedback on the customer.

Where does she work ?

She sounds quite naughty and in need of a spanking.

[lemoncake]

it comes down to a) what you are paying and how you are looking after staff. 300 bht is the minimum wage but if there are no other incentives you cannot really expect to recruit experienced staff albeit in Pattaya or Phuket.

You need to remember that as an employer you are Father, Grand Father, Irresponsible Uncle and Brother to your staff and all at the same time.

You need to hug, scold, reward and bully.

Accommodation is a great incentive. It means that you can attract people from other provinces without their having to worry about where they are going to sleep.

Staff food adds a loyalty that grows. Feed your staff properly and they will stay.

Pay their social security and make sure they get a card for a local hospital.

Last but not least..... train... train and train. If you have no idea how to make a coffee.... how can you expect your staff to?

Agree with all of the above BUT on the subject of experience.

The good staff with experience, hardly ever quit jobs, one really needs to be lucky to get one of them.

Vast majority lie when filling out an application about their experience.

If they worked for few weeks, they will put down 3-5 months, if they worked 3-5 months they put down 3-4 years.

In my experience, those who claimed to have experience, turned out to be total lemons, and those who claimed to have some but were happy to start at minimum wage to show their skills, turned out to be ok.

Another very important factor to keep in mind is that SADLY Pattaya is a seasonal place, ie many come to Pattaya ONLY for high season to work and then go back to village.

The better the pay, the faster they go back to village.

[lemoncake]

300 B per day is touted as the national minimum wage. However this really only applies to the rural provinces where the COL is considerably less than Pattaya.

You need to pay more and offer incentives to stay longer, with added bonuses for increased skills and longevity of service - and don't be thinking in terms of a bonus at six months. Six months is two eternities to a Thai.

Here's my suggestion:

300 B per day for the 1st month. A 2,000 B bonus if one month is completed, paid on the 15th of the following month, provided they stay. (incentive to stay 6 weeks, and if they leave when they get that bonus they forfeit 2 weeks pay for leaving mid-month). Average daily cost 366 B.

400 B per day for the 2nd month. A 2,000 B bonus for staying the two months, paid as above - gets the same retention incentive.

450 B per day fro the 3rd month. A 1,000 Bonus for staying the three months, paid as above.

500B per day from then on. And then for no particular reason, slip them the odd bonus, take them out for a BBQ, treat them well.....pays dividends!!

The chances are you will still have considerable staff rollover but a lot less than you would only paying 300 B per day. The incentives will possibly rarely be paid but at least you'll retain staff for longer periods. While the overall cost may look excessive I suggest you do yourself a little model that will show the average costs under various circumstances.

I'd suggest that your average cost will only be 400 B per day, plus you may get lucky and get one or two that may well stay the distance. If this happens you may need fewer overall staff because they are more efficient/productive....thus saving you money and having fewer staff headaches.

I have done something similar to the above and it worked very well.

If you have managed to make it work, i applaud you, but i believe the system will not work for a number of reasons

1. Most pay rent, bills etc between 1 and 5th of the month, getting salary on 15th will not work for them

2. Probation period is 4 months, by giving bonuses you have disregarded that

3. You offering bonus based on "coming to work" NOT actually doing work or performance

4. They will expect for bonuses to keep on coming and if stopped, they will resign

5. Might be difficult if not impossible to explain the system, due to lack of comprehension(unless you in educated business, in which case minimum is not even an issue)

6. It takes months to train someone just to know what to do, but you already offer a praise, i do not think many Thai will appreciate it but rather see it as a weakness and stupidity to be taken advantage of.

7. And last, but not least. Pattaya is a seasonal place, so you will invest money into someone who will be gone after few months, for you start all over again.

My set up is basic and seems to work.

Payday is on the 4th of each month

2000 baht deposit is charged from the first salary.

They must give 15 day notice if want to stop work, failure to do that results in loss of deposit.

No show or sick 10 mins prior to shift results in fine of 600 baht

Salary is fixed for the duration of probation period of 120 days, after that, they get a pay rise

I no longer have staff going "missing" and no problem keeping them, but do have a problem with them doing work and end up firing them.

It takes 30 mins to teach a dog to sit, i do not see any reason why it should take longer to teach a person which button to press on the cash register.

Edited June 30, 2013 by lemoncake

[lemoncake]

Hey OP, just a few hints for you.

1. Put a sign "looking for staff" in Thai in the window

2. Put adverts at Friendship and Foodland(in Thai)

3. Advertise for "service" staff not coffee shop, because too many do not know anything about coffee, so will not come, but many know"service" and you can train them after.

[seasia]

To add to the above which I think is a good idea, I`d add adverts at Best Supermarket ( Dolphin Circle/naklua ) , long shot as it`s far away from your premises but also Big C Extra ( formerly Carrefour ) on Pattaya Klang, nearer to where you are.

For Big C Extra, place advert in both Thai and English IMO.

Always a mix of Thais and foreigners glancing through the adds anytime I`ve had a look.

Never know, might just get someone suitable.

Worth a try.

[lemoncake]

To add to the above which I think is a good idea, I`d add adverts at Best Supermarket ( Dolphin Circle/naklua ) , long shot as it`s far away from your premises but also Big C Extra ( formerly Carrefour ) on Pattaya Klang, nearer to where you are.

For Big C Extra, place advert in both Thai and English IMO.

Always a mix of Thais and foreigners glancing through the adds anytime I`ve had a look.

Never know, might just get someone suitable.

Worth a try.

The problem with having it in English, the boyfriends call and come along for the interview and then spend every day sitting watching her work.

As retarded as it sounds, it is actually like that.

I think Best is too far away, you find Thai staff do not like to travel far and if they do, they quit pretty fast, but worth a try, it is free

[PattayaPhom]

Free wifi and Iphone so they can facebook allday is a key requirement

[Barack]

Some. More details would be helpful , location? , working hours?, starting salary then maybe someone could help you.

Location: Pattaya klang

Working hours: 16:00-00:00

Starting salary: 300 baht/day ( for rookies )

Out of curiosity what are your business hours?

[stockholm1995]

Some. More details would be helpful , location? , working hours?, starting salary then maybe someone could help you.

Location: Pattaya klang

Working hours: 16:00-00:00

Starting salary: 300 baht/day ( for rookies )

Out of curiosity what are your business hours?

09:00-02:00 (night)

[DekDaeng]

Seasonal could be made to work to your advantage - get upcountry girls for 6 months each year? May need to provide accommodation.

Benjamit roast on site, can provide you with v fresh beans or ground. Benjamit blend is great coffee.

Maccas also have good coffee (Mac Cafe) - could also be a source of staff ? ;-)

[howerde]

I know a 24 year old waitress/cashier that explained to me how giving change is a science to maximise the tip potential. She judges the look of the customer, the dress, general demeanour, attitude, what they purchase, how they interact with the staff etc, whether they have a car or bike.... and that determines what format the change will be given in.

If the change is 100B, she will vary the denominations given to different customers to extract the highest possibility of increasing the tip potential. She explained the logic but some of the detail was way over my head. One example was that if she assumed the customer was a Baht Bus customer, she would not give any 10B coins if possible, only 20's. If she got good vibes from a customer she would make sure the change contained a 50 and a 10 - expecting a 30 or maybe a 50B tip. She had it all figured out and had her staff giving her feedback on the customer.

Where does she work ?

She sounds quite naughty and in need of a spanking.

I'm not sure this is the place to discuss your fantasies

Edited June 30, 2013 by howerde

[lemoncake]

Seasonal could be made to work to your advantage - get upcountry girls for 6 months each year? May need to provide accommodation.

Benjamit roast on site, can provide you with v fresh beans or ground. Benjamit blend is great coffee.

Maccas also have good coffee (Mac Cafe) - could also be a source of staff ? ;-)

Seasonal more like 3-5 months, upcountry hardly speaks English and takes 3 months just to train on how to take order.

In small business , training is a huge expense and burden on all others as well as owners time.

[PoodMaiDai]

Pay decent wage as said and get decent workers.

Pay crap and receive the same.

Ask in Starbucks. Pay someone more than they get and headhunter them. They'll be fully trained, be able to speak English, make coffee and do everything but make sure you pay them enough and treat them well. If so they'll stay. If you pay them a little more but work them like a dog they'll be back at Starbuck the next day.

Whoever hires the staff at Starbucks needs an award. Very well done.

[stockholm1995]

Pay decent wage as said and get decent workers.

Pay crap and receive the same.

Ask in Starbucks. Pay someone more than they get and headhunter them. They'll be fully trained, be able to speak English, make coffee and do everything but make sure you pay them enough and treat them well. If so they'll stay. If you pay them a little more but work them like a dog they'll be back at Starbuck the next day.

Whoever hires the staff at Starbucks needs an award. Very well done.

I think you mean whoever trains the staff needs an award.

[PoodMaiDai]

Pay decent wage as said and get decent workers.

Pay crap and receive the same.

Ask in Starbucks. Pay someone more than they get and headhunter them. They'll be fully trained, be able to speak English, make coffee and do everything but make sure you pay them enough and treat them well. If so they'll stay. If you pay them a little more but work them like a dog they'll be back at Starbuck the next day.

Whoever hires the staff at Starbucks needs an award. Very well done.

I think you mean whoever trains the staff needs an award.

Hiring and training. I've never had a bad experience in Starbucks while in Thailand, and I'm in one usually every day. Nothing but positive things to say about the staff in each of the Starbucks I visit.

[blackman]

To add to the above which I think is a good idea, I`d add adverts at Best Supermarket ( Dolphin Circle/naklua ) , long shot as it`s far away from your premises but also Big C Extra ( formerly Carrefour ) on Pattaya Klang, nearer to where you are.

For Big C Extra, place advert in both Thai and English IMO.

Always a mix of Thais and foreigners glancing through the adds anytime I`ve had a look.

Never know, might just get someone suitable.

Worth a try.

The problem with having it in English, the boyfriends call and come along for the interview and then spend every day sitting watching her work.

As retarded as it sounds, it is actually like that.

I think Best is too far away, you find Thai staff do not like to travel far and if they do, they quit pretty fast, but worth a try, it is free

sorry to contradict you but Best charge for advertising on their boards

[OMGImInPattaya]

Pay decent wage as said and get decent workers.

Pay crap and receive the same.

Ask in Starbucks. Pay someone more than they get and headhunter them. They'll be fully trained, be able to speak English, make coffee and do everything but make sure you pay them enough and treat them well. If so they'll stay. If you pay them a little more but work them like a dog they'll be back at Starbuck the next day.

Whoever hires the staff at Starbucks needs an award. Very well done.

I think you mean whoever trains the staff needs an award.

Hiring and training. I've never had a bad experience in Starbucks while in Thailand, and I'm in one usually every day. Nothing but positive things to say about the staff in each of the Starbucks I visit.

I feel sorry for you...worst, most expensive coffee in Thailand; and still no free WiFi. Do they at least use Vaseline?

[lemoncake]

To add to the above which I think is a good idea, I`d add adverts at Best Supermarket ( Dolphin Circle/naklua ) , long shot as it`s far away from your premises but also Big C Extra ( formerly Carrefour ) on Pattaya Klang, nearer to where you are.

For Big C Extra, place advert in both Thai and English IMO.

Always a mix of Thais and foreigners glancing through the adds anytime I`ve had a look.

Never know, might just get someone suitable.

Worth a try.

The problem with having it in English, the boyfriends call and come along for the interview and then spend every day sitting watching her work.

As retarded as it sounds, it is actually like that.

I think Best is too far away, you find Thai staff do not like to travel far and if they do, they quit pretty fast, but worth a try, it is free

sorry to contradict you but Best charge for advertising on their boards

You may well be correct, I never advertised there as my business is in Pattaya tai. And it's hard enough to get them to walk 100 meters from friendship to my business for interview

[lemoncake]

Pay decent wage as said and get decent workers.Pay crap and receive the same.Ask in Starbucks. Pay someone more than they get and headhunter them. They'll be fully trained, be able to speak English, make coffee and do everything but make sure you pay them enough and treat them well. If so they'll stay. If you pay them a little more but work them like a dog they'll be back at Starbuck the next day.

Staff at Starbucks speak English ??? That's at first

You do know they are on a minimum wAge right?

They also have 5 people doing the job of 2, not exactly a role model

[joepattaya1961]

300 B per day is touted as the national minimum wage. However this really only applies to the rural provinces where the COL is considerably less than Pattaya.

You need to pay more and offer incentives to stay longer, with added bonuses for increased skills and longevity of service - and don't be thinking in terms of a bonus at six months. Six months is two eternities to a Thai.

Here's my suggestion:

300 B per day for the 1st month. A 2,000 B bonus if one month is completed, paid on the 15th of the following month, provided they stay. (incentive to stay 6 weeks, and if they leave when they get that bonus they forfeit 2 weeks pay for leaving mid-month). Average daily cost 366 B.

400 B per day for the 2nd month. A 2,000 B bonus for staying the two months, paid as above - gets the same retention incentive.

450 B per day fro the 3rd month. A 1,000 Bonus for staying the three months, paid as above.

500B per day from then on. And then for no particular reason, slip them the odd bonus, take them out for a BBQ, treat them well.....pays dividends!!

The chances are you will still have considerable staff rollover but a lot less than you would only paying 300 B per day. The incentives will possibly rarely be paid but at least you'll retain staff for longer periods. While the overall cost may look excessive I suggest you do yourself a little model that will show the average costs under various circumstances.

I'd suggest that your average cost will only be 400 B per day, plus you may get lucky and get one or two that may well stay the distance. If this happens you may need fewer overall staff because they are more efficient/productive....thus saving you money and having fewer staff headaches.

I have done something similar to the above and it worked very well.

Just guess how many cups of coffee they have to sell to pay for the salaries, rent, utilities and your constantly increasing salaries and incentives. Thais are absolutely not loyal to bosses and employers. They demand more and more without giving anything in return. If you implement a plan like yours, connect it to a kind of forecast/target and maybe a simple bonus-system.

[Mighty Mouse]

I'm assuming that this coffee shop has a commercial coffee maker, rather than a semi-commercial or domestic style machine. If so, and if it is intended to train the new recruit to a barista standard, then you need to find a newbie who has the ability to operate such a machine properly. That is easier said than done.

Most coffee outlets in Pattaya serve crap coffee, mainly because the person pulling the shots has absolute no idea how to get the most out of the machine and/or the coffee beans are of poor quality and stale. In most cases you can't blame the staff member as they have not been properly trained or they are not suited to be a barista. It takes a special person who can co-ordinate multiple orders at once, knows the difference between each type of coffee and who has a genuine passion for producing a good product. If the OP or his wife aren't baristas themselves, then what hope has a newbie of being trained properly.

The only solution to that problem would be to try steal a barista from another coffee outlet and pay the person an attractive wage in order to retain their services.

If the business owners are able to properly train any newbie, then by only offering the minimum wage during the training period, you will have difficulty in keeping them enthusiastic or getting the type of person required to adequately run a busy coffee shop.

The duties of a barista are more onerous than the duties of a waitress.

Opening any small business is a gamble, particularly those offering food and drink, so if you want a strong, long lasting, profitable business, you need to invest heavily in obtaining the best staff possible. Once you have a regular customer base with a healthy cash flow, the business will take care of itself.

Good profits can be made from the sale of fresh coffee but the outlet needs to be busy. I'm not forgetting that this outlet also sells patisserie....nice to have with a hot cup.

[pattayadingo]

Thanks for all suggestions.

I have to agree with lemoncake "DO NOT pay more to start with, because you will not get better people or work quality."

Paying 400-500 from first day wouldn´t be a good solution but i would pay more than 300 to right worker after couple of months.

If we pay 400-500/day from first day, then we have to pay 600 after 6 months and that´s just tooo much.

My wife has been asking the restaurants owners she knows and they proposed the minimum from first day but pay more when you see the job quality.

We are not looking for someone with PhD in english, just someone who can explain the products for customers.

Our location is between 2:nd and 3:rd road Pattaya klang. Customer: 50-50 thai-foreigner

working 6days a week.

Would that be Sweet Love Bakery by any chance?

[Asiantravel]

With the work ethic of some Thais and the relative unemployment rate being so low in Thailand, you may consider bringing in some Filipinas to meet the need. More than enough pinays that would jump at the chance and you could likely pull college graduates that would jump at the chance. Just saying.

If you keep having problems, perhaps you could find a way to bring in some Cambodians? If you went to Phnom Penh and looked around. I bet you would easily find some young people who can speak excellent English. The waiters I spoke to in coffee shops when I was in Phnom Penh a couple of weeks ago were earning no more than $80-$100 per month. One who was more experienced and older was earning $200.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Asiantravel

[lemoncake]

With the work ethic of some Thais and the relative unemployment rate being so low in Thailand, you may consider bringing in some Filipinas to meet the need. More than enough pinays that would jump at the chance and you could likely pull college graduates that would jump at the chance. Just saying.

If you keep having problems, perhaps you could find a way to bring in some Cambodians? If you went to Phnom Penh and looked around. I bet you would easily find some young people who can speak excellent English. The waiters I spoke to in coffee shops when I was in Phnom Penh a couple of weeks ago were earning no more than $80-$100 per month. One who was more experienced and older was earning $200.

And then put aside few hundred thousand of baht to pay off immigration with every arrest