Ministry strives to find more workers

In the next six months, MOLISA will strive to create more jobs for 1.6 million people, 90,000 of whom will work abroad.

HCM City needed 140,000 workers in the next six months, including 30,000 seasonal workers, said the municipal Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information on June 17.

The mechanics, electronics, information technology, food processing and chemical sectors will be looking for workers.

In the last quarter of the year, the weaving, sewing and food processing industries will need more workers in the run up to Tet (Lunar New Year), which will fall in February next year.

Surveys conducted by the centre in the first six months of this year showed that more than 9,000 enterprises needed 80,000 workers, but only 38,000 were looking for jobs.

Lack of skills

The Job Fair 2015 held last Saturday in Hanoi attracted a large number of people, but their skills were limited, according to deputy director of the Hanoi Employment Introduction Centre (HEIC) Vu Quang Thanh.

"Candidates are more interested in salaries, preferential treatment and working conditions, but they don't meet our standards," said Thanh.

Agreeing with Thanh, Le Thi Phuong, a recruitment officer from the Dong Duong Computer Trade and Services Company, told Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that many young people did not prepare well enough for their interviews, because schools did not advise them on the process, she said.

Phuong's company was looking to recruit 10 employees, but there were not enough qualified workers at the fair.

"Most of the candidates were enthusiastic, but they lack experience. They are discouraged at the slightest difficulty," said Phuong.

The enterprises were also not satisfied with some workers.

Bui Thi Lan Huong, head of the Personnel Division at the Passaniti Vietnam Company, said that workers had a habit of turning up late for work, and they did not really concentrate.

Nguyen Trong Hung, deputy head of the Personnel Division at MediaMart Vietnam Corporation, said that the company wanted to employ people who could use their experience about trading different products.

The jobs on offer had starting salaries of VND10-15 million (US$470-700) per month, but few candidates satisfied the company's criteria.

The Job Fair 2015 attracted nearly 50 enterprises from different sectors, including information technology, electronics, mechanics and technology.