A majority of home workers in central Vietnam have left for the south to find jobs after the lunar New Year (Tet) despite the many banners hung in front of factory gates attempting to recruit workers.

Because of lower salary rates and a lack of career opportunities, employers in central provinces such as Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Da Nang City don’t have enough workers to satisfy their production demands.

For workers, companies in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai have remained desirable places to work, although they have to travel far and live in hired rooms.

Recruitments

Predicting that workers are inclined to quit their current jobs after going home on a long holiday like Tet, many companies in industrial park Dien Nam – Dien Ngoc in Quang Nam Province hung recruitment banners before and during Tet but they still don’t have enough manpower to staff empty positions.

Companies such as Viet Vuong, Minh Hoang, Nguon Luc, and Phan Vy need to recruit 300 – 1,000 workers each.

With the current average salary of VND2.5 – 6 million (US$120 – 290) a month, it is difficult for companies to keep their staff, as companies in the south offer higher pay, admitted Mr. Vo Ngoc Hien, vice office manager of the management board of industrial parks and export processing zones in Da Nang City.

“Pigeons land wherever there is plenty of rice,” he added.

Nguyen Phu, vice head of the Dien Nam – Dien Ngoc IP, said, “After Tet, workers often quit their jobs and some companies thus lose hundreds of workers.”

Apparel, a company in Quang Nam that now needs 1,000 new workers after Tet, promised to pay their workers’ salaries on the first working day of each month, but could recruit no more than 100 new workers.

A similar situation has occurred in many other companies that offer allowances for lunch, transportation, and bonuses. They are even willing to organize training courses to be able to recruit unskilled workers.

Vinatex Quang Ngai is one such example, as it now needs 500 new workers after Tet but only 200 people came to sign up, including over 100 unskilled workers.

“Besides the average salary rate at Vinatex Quang Ngai ranging from VND3.5 – 4.7 million [$168 – 226], workers also receive extra benefits such as insurance and bonuses. But we still don’t have enough manpower,” said Nguyen Nhat Linh, head of Vinatex’s personnel department.

A company in Da Nang hangs a banner to recruit a large number of workers (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

In Da Nang City, companies have a shortage of 4,000 workers this year.

Huynh Viet Tu, an official of the Da Nang IP, said that in previous years, his company went to neighboring provinces such as Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai to recruit workers. But now those localities have all built their own industrial parks.

Only the economic zone Dung Quat in Quang Ngai is predicted to need 20,000 laborers from now until 2015. At the VSIP in Quang Ngai, four enterprises have signed memorandums of understanding with the provincial authorities to offer over 10,000 workers in 2014-15.

A survey shows that each year 65,000 workers left Quang Ngai for southern provinces to find jobs from 2009 to 2012.

Actually, authorities of central provinces have organized training classes to meet the personnel demand of investors, mainly in the fields of garment and textiles, mechanics, husbandry, and accounting. But they can’t ‘plead innocent’ for the shortage of skilled manpower in the localities they manage.