Factories worried about labor shortage as orders recover

On January 30 Thanh Cong Textile - Garment - Investment - Trading Joint Stock Company in HCMC’s Tan Phu District reopened after a 14-day Tet holiday, and more than 97% of its workers reported for duty.

The remaining 200 have not returned to work due to personal reasons or are on leave.

Nguyen Huu Tuan, the company’s human resources director, said if orders recover it would be difficult to hire new workers since businesses would compete with each for limited supply.

Now, migrant workers tend to return from HCMC to neighboring provinces or their hometown to work.

Dai Dung Metallic Manufacture Construction and Trade Corporation in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District, which has seen almost all its employees return to work after Tet, is finding it hard to recruit another 200-300 workers.

"Vocational schools and colleges find it difficult to get students majoring in engineering, and so it is difficult for mechanical factories like us to find workers," Nguyen Van Hung, head of the company’s trade union, said.

Even garment and footwear workers who have lost their jobs are not interested in joining mechanical companies because of the hard work it involves, he added.

His company is coordinating with vocational schools to find workers, asking its employees to refer relatives and offering a monthly salary of VND8-9 million ($339-381) and free accommodation to new workers, but hiring is still difficult.

Doan Sy Loi, CEO of Chang Shuen Company, a shoe maker at the Tan Dong Hiep Industrial Park in the southern province of Binh Duong, said since orders are now steady new workers are being hired.

If the market recovers and orders become large, the company would have to compete with others to hire, he said.

The labor shortage in the textile, garment and footwear industries has been a persistent problem for years.

According to a survey by the HCMC Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, nearly 500 enterprises, mainly in the apparel, footwear and electronics industries, immediately want to recruit more than 14,300 workers.

The city’s total demand for new workers in the first quarter of this year is forecast to be 79,000-87,000.