I REFER to the commentary 'Can't be understood? Blame the bosses' by Mr Daryll Nanayakara (my paper, May 27).

I agree with the writer on this issue.

The number of companies which have employees who do not understand English may be small, but the problem can become magnified if the business is in the service industry.

I have experienced such instances when patronising retail as well as food and beverage outlets.

The staff cannot even understand a simple question in English, let alone queries on the product they are selling.

My question is: Why do these companies hire such workers in the first place? Is it because they are much cheaper to employ?

No matter what the reason is, it is not good enough, because frontline staff have to face English-speaking customers on a daily basis.

So what are these bosses to do?

If they want to keep hiring these workers because they are cheap, but refuse to address their lack of English proficiency, then these workers should not be deployed as frontline staff.

Mdm Sharifah Juma'at

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