The Hiring Conundrum: A Challenge for Businesses

Ms. Le Thi Bich Hang, representing the Board of Directors of Joint Stock Company No. 7 (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City), shared that despite a plentiful order book, they are facing a shortage of labor. Skilled human resources in the printing industry are scarce. Each year, the country produces just over 100 trained workers in this field. As a result, the company has had to resort to training their own personnel.

“For the printing industry, it takes 2-3 years of training for a worker to become proficient in operating printing machines,” said Ms. Hang. “Enterprises once hoped that graduates could work immediately, but this proved unfeasible, and companies still have to retrain them. One of our solutions is the ’40 Technical Workers’ program, where we directly recruit and intensify the training of our workers.”

Ms. Lam Thi Ngoc Ngan, Human Resources Director of Pizza 4PS Joint Stock Company, shared that they primarily recruit young, untrained workers. On average, Pizza 4PS needs to recruit over 3,000 full-time employees each year.

“When recruiting, the company provides training from the outset, and many positions require a lot of effort to train,” said Ms. Ngan. “However, the turnover rate is very high, which is a challenge faced by many enterprises today.”

In Binh Duong, hundreds of enterprises are also grappling with recruitment challenges. At the beginning of 2024, due to a decrease in export orders, Thuan An Wood Processing Joint Stock Company had to lay off approximately 300 workers. Now, with orders returning, they want to hire an additional 100 people, but they have not been able to fill those positions. Dong Luc Mechanical Joint Stock Company is also in need of hundreds of unskilled laborers, whom they will train once hired. Despite offering salaries ranging from 7.5 to 12 million VND per person per month, very few people have applied.

In Binh Duong province, large enterprises such as Hai My Co., Ltd., Chi Hung Co., Ltd., Shyang Hung Cheng Co., Ltd., and Yazaki EDS Vietnam Co., Ltd. are recruiting from hundreds to thousands of workers. Mr. Mai Phu Hung, Vice Chairman of the Trade Union of Yazaki EDS Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Binh Duong), shared that the company has received more orders and needs more workers. Despite offering attractive salaries and benefits, they have received very few applications.

According to the enterprises, the labor shortage is partly due to the fact that in 2023 and the first half of 2024, there were times when orders were scarce, forcing them to reduce working hours and lay off workers. As a result, these workers returned to their hometowns.

Mr. Pham Trong Nhan, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Duong province, shared that currently, most provinces and cities across the country are investing in the construction of industrial parks. When enterprises are everywhere, workers will choose to work close to home, even if the salary is lower. “For example, the VSIP industrial park in Can Tho city attracts workers from the Mekong Delta region because it is close by. To retain workers, enterprises need to pay attention to salary and bonus schemes,” said Mr. Nhan.

According to the Center for Forecasting Human Needs and Labor Market Information, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the city will need about 78,100 – 83,300 workers. According to a recent survey by the Center of 9,000 enterprises operating in Ho Chi Minh City, 23.55% of enterprises reported difficulties in recruitment. Some of the reasons given were the mismatch between the workers’ field of study and the job requirements, lack of soft skills and practical application abilities, inability to meet the salary expectations of applicants, and the lack of both specialized knowledge and foreign language proficiency…