Singapore has a manpower problem. Tighter laws against immigration have seen a reduced flow of cheap and foreign labor available for service jobs.

As a result, many restaurants find it difficult to find sufficient personnel to work the floors. The solution? Well drones of course.

These unusual flying waiters navigate using infrared sensors placed around the restaurant. They then whizz above the heads of diners using paths programmed by a computer.

The drones can carry up to 2kg of food and drink, which adds up to about two pints of beer, a pizza, and two glasses of wine. And of course, they will never expect an hourly rate or phone in sick.

In an attempt to adjust to the situation, a few restaurateurs throughout Singapore have been turning to tech for other reasons too.

Some have experimented with robots that can wok-fry rice and noodles, others have installed iPad menus and bullet train delivery systems.

Timbre Group Director, Edward Chia said that he plans to use 40 drones and redirect human staff to do higher-skilled jobs such as making cocktails and preparing food.

The drones will fetch food from the kitchen to a serving station, while a real person will place the dish before the customer. “We still want to have that human touch,” he said.