Nidec Tosok, a wholly Japanese invested company specialising in copper cables, has proposed recruiting Philippine workers, while garment maker Three Bambi - another wholly Japanese invested company – is planning to receive workers from Laos. Both companies are operating at the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in HCM City.

The two companies say they are coping with a chronic shortage of workers after the New Year festival. Each year, workers travel to their homes throughout the country to celebrate the holiday with family, and many do not return to work. Employment centres, including one for HCM City’s Industrial and Export Processing Zones, have failed to meet the two companies’ demand for workers.

However, relevant municipal agencies have rejected the labour-import proposals and confirmed that only skilled employees, such as specialists, can be recruited to work in Vietnam.

“The plan to recruit workers from Laos is unrealistic, because Laos is receiving Vietnamese guest workers,” says Le Thanh Tam, director of the Municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. “Meanwhile, Philippine workers require a high salary of around US$600 per month on average if they work abroad.”

Mr Tam confirms that Vietnam does not lack human resources, saying “Businesses will not face labour shortages if their workers receive salaries equal to foreigners’.”

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, last year Dong Nai province lacked 20,000 workers, including 15,000 unskilled ones; HCM City needed 62,000, but only a small number got contracts; and Binh Duong province failed to meet its demand of 41,600 workers.

Labour experts say the proposals show the drawbacks in the existing labour market, citing the fact that salaries are not attractive enough to lure agriculture-based people away from their farms. The labour structure has not kept up with economic development, and business locations do not match labour distribution.

The experts say labour shifting from one region to another requires State agencies to address three issues: salary, internal migration and training. However, the settlement of the three issues has not received due attention. Businesses have not attracted employees due to low pay and inconsistent social welfare policies on building houses and hospitals for migrant workers and schools for their children. In addition, vocational training has not been based on surveys to determine market demand.