Factories struggle to recruit skilled workers

The southern Binh Duong Province-based factory has posted recruitment adds for male candidates with degrees and 1-2 years of experience maintaining and repairing trucks. The company is offering a basic salary of VND13-17 million ($550-720) a month, excluding allowances.

Head of factory recruitment Pham Dinh Van said: "After the recruitment sites sent a list of job seekers, I called candidates one by one, but no one has agreed to come for the interview."

An auto mechanic maintains and repairs a truck at Van Dat Thanh Steel Sheet Factory. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuong

If no job seekers appear for the interview by the end of February, the factory will increase the basic salary on offer by 10-20%, he added.

Do Phuoc Tong, chairman of the Duy Khanh Mechanical Company in Ho Chi Minh City, said it is a challenging time for engineering firms seeking workers with professional qualifications like a college level education or higher.

Duy Khanh is investing in a new factory in the Saigon Hi-tech Park that will manufacture precision mechanical products. The company currently needs to recruit 30-40 skilled workers and engineers.

"Recruiting new people is difficult, and keeping them is even harder," Tong said.

Tong, who is also president of the Ho Chi Minh Cit Association of Mechanical - Electrical Enterprises, said factories often coordinate with vocational schools to receive internships.

A quick survey on recruiting skilled workers after the Lunar New Year holidays, which fell from Janauray 20-26, found that of 14 company directors and HR department heads questioned, only one said the task was "easy," while the other 13, or 93%, said it was "difficult."

Because skilled workers have many options, it is easy for them to change jobs, respondents said.

According to the HCMC Center of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information, major difficulties in recruitment include the fact that many job seekers do not meet company requirements, and the fact that many firms are not meeting candidates’ salary and bonus expectations.

Factories in technical fields are finding it most difficult to hire people because the number of candidates is limited.

It is most difficult to recruit executive directors, accountants, technical staff, managers and supervisors, according to a new report by the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

According to Bui Thi Ninh from VCCI’s HCMC office, two major challenges emerging for the labor market are a shortage of skilled workers and the rapidly changing skill requirements for workers due to the impacts of new science and technology.

Job seekers at a recruitment event held by employment agency Navigos. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet

Ninh said the Government should issues tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest in internal training programs and improve their workers’ skills.