Hanoi struggles to find drivers for metro line
Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line is expected to go into operation in late 2021 but Hanoi authorities have only received 60 applications for the line's drivers.
Nguyen Van Ngoc from Hanoi Railway Company said the applicants must have graduated from high school and be aged from 22 to 40 years old. They will be trained for a year overseas. The company will pay for all training costs.
"The applicants must submit a health certificate from the Transport Hospital," he said.
The drivers must be disciplined and have other soft skills to work with a team. They will be paid VND13 million (US$559) to VND15 million a month and entitled to other benefits. Ngoc said this line of work would develop strongly with the development of other metro lines.
Ngoc went on to say that they intended to hire 50 drivers. After seven months and three recruitment rounds, they have received 60 applications, much fewer than expected.
"Maybe it's because the recruitment started amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and transportation was badly affected. Maybe everyone hasn't been attracted to this new job yet. Even though we are really in need of good drivers, we are still struggling to find employees," he said.
It took two years to recuit 37 drivers for the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line.
It is estimated that Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line will need over 600 employees at 112 different positions to operate. However, the recruitment and training problems depend greatly on the project's process.
"I think many people are reluctant to apply this time also because they have seen that Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project is stagnant," Ngoc said.
