Worker drought in southern province

Garment businesses in southern Dong Nai Province are desperate for staff.

There have been recruitment banners outside many garment companies in Bien Hoa No. 2 Industrial Zone seeking somewhere between 200 and 1,000 new employees

Scavi Vietnam Joint Stock Company said it has had 1,000 vacancies for skilled garment workers since early this year. The company offers VND1.5 million to VND3 million (US$88-176) a month, with other allowances, but it has only managed to recruit 600 workers.

Whenever Scavi hears of a garment company in or near Ho Chi Minh City going bust, it contacts labor officials to ask the workers to apply for work at Scavi, Nam said. “We offer unlimited contracts and maybe a month’s bonus.”

Ton Duc Thinh, director of job introduction agency Thanh Nien Xung Phong (Voluntary Youth) Ltd. Co. said in October he received a request from a garment company for 300 skilled workers that he simply could not meet.

Dong Nai is “thirsty” for labor, said Le Cong Khanh, director of Dong Nai Job Introduction Center, adding that the center cannot meet the demand despite its recommending job chances every month.

Statistics from the province’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs show that companies around the province have received more than 50,000 new workers – 16,000 from other provinces – since the beginning of this year, 108 percent higher than the year target.

Still around 15,000 more are needed, according to the department’s estimate.

Labor demand next year will still be high but the demand will mainly be for qualified workers. This means those who want a job need to start upgrading their skills now.

Reported by Hoang Tuan – Thanh Thuy