Companies in Đồng Nai Province and HCM City are facing problems recruiting new workers. VNA/VNS.Photo Mạnh Linh

HCM CiTY — The number of foreign companies and corporations choosing Việt Nam for investment and production has increased strongly in recent years but their recruitment of staff has faced problems, according to labour departments and centres.

The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in the southern province of Đồng Nai, for example, said that nearly 3,300 companies in the province need more than 75,000 new workers this year as they expand production and open new factories. 

Of the 75,000, more than 56,000 manual workers are needed for the companies, which operate in the garment, footwear, electronics and woodwork industries.

Phạm Văn Cộng, the department’s deputy head, said that companies need professionally trained employees, but vocational training schools have failed to meet the demand. Many people graduating from these schools do not even know how to operate a machine.

As a result, many companies employ high school graduates and train them professionally at the workplace.

Cộng said that the province each year has employed dozens of thousands of manual workers from northern and central provinces, but the number of workers from these areas has fallen in recent years.

The department forecasts a shortage of manual workers to continue this year.

Cộng said that the provincial Employment Service Centre is conducting a survey on workers who need jobs and will then introduce them to companies.

Many companies in HCM City are also facing difficulties in recruiting new workers. Several companies sought workers before Lunar Tết, but have not recruited any staff yet.

According to companies, workers often choose to work abroad as guest workers because of the higher salaries and reduced costs.

Unlike Đồng Nai Province, HCM City companies still need a large number of skilled workers.

According to the HCM City Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, the city needs nearly 30,000 new workers, of which only 16.82 per cent would be manual workers .

The remaining are skilled workers, but many of them are required to have vocational training degrees. The rate of university graduates accounts for 19.8 per cent

Nguyễn Văn Lâm, deputy head of the city's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that highly skilled workers are needed for the enterprises involved in IT-electronics, automation, food technology, e-commerce, finance-banking-insurance, tourism-hospitality, garments-textiles, and logistics. — VNS