Businesses begin recruitment race post-pandemic

Workers at a textile and garment company in Tan Do Industrial Park in the southern province of Long An. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Nidec Servo Vietnam Corporation, an electronic components manufacturer in HCMC’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park, plans to increase the number of unskilled workers by 30 percent this year.

"We have received orders, and so need to hire," its head of human resources, Nguyen Thi Nhat Tuyen, said.

Many companies in HCMC’s Quang Trung Software City, the country’s top information and technology hub, like software developers MISA JSC, Aegona and TMA Solution and tech company Swiss Post Solutions have been recruiting since March. TMA has been seeking to employ 100 telecom engineers for its latest 5G and internet of things project.

The Center for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information (FALMI) HCMC expects 68,600-73,500 people to be hired in the second quarter, 85.7 percent of them high-skilled workers such as cybersecurity specialists and programmers.

Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, recruitment manager at headhunting agency Adecco Hanoi, said demand is rising for positions such as test design, quality control, process control, and technical engineers, sales manager and marketing executive.

Resume writing service provider TopCV said 66.9 percent of enterprises expect demand for human resources to grow this year as they recover after a year of suffering.

"The production shift from China and the effect of free trade agreements will boost the country’s economy, resulting in a rise in employment demand and job opportunities."

Some 68 percent of manufacturing companies reported better results in the first quarter compared to the previous one, according to a recent survey by the General Statistics Office.

Vietnam’s success in containing the pandemic and the start of vaccination are factors boosting its economic revival, FALMI said.

But Tuyen said it is not easy for businesses to find especially unskilled workers who meet their requirements since labour supply in HCMC is decreasing.

"Most people now prefer self-employment like online selling. Manufacturers collaborate with headhunting agencies, but it is still hard to find the right candidates."

While over 75 percent of IT companies want to increase their count of highly skilled workers, Adecco said supply is small because most engineers and technicians already have jobs and are reluctant to switch.

Le Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, director of Adecco HCMC, said: "They are too unsure about the future to quit their current job to work for a new company. Staying in the current company where they have fully understood the business strategy seems to be a rational decision."

Ensuring a safe working environment is an important factor post-pandemic to attract employees, as a survey by Adecco found. It said 82 percent of employees expect their company to continue to have strict hygiene rules at the workplace.