All occupations run short

The fact is that all occupations are in dire need of new employees. Moreover, some industrial production sectors, such as the garment, footwear, and timber sectors which often recruit a large number of employees, have developed strongly in the recent years, causing the labour market to become more and more stretched.

The demand for more labour from companies in the garment, footwear, timber production, and seafood processing has risen sharply after the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

At recruitment centers, lists of vacancies are getting ever longer. Around industrial parks in southern Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and along highways to industrial parks, it is easy to find information about labour recruitment.

Apart from official payment, employers also make public bonuses, pay travel assistance fees and provide many other incentives to attract more labour. For example, Hoan Thanh Garment Company at district 12 in Ho Chi Minh City announced it would VND150,000 in bonus for hard-working labourers. Shilla Gags Vietnam Garment Company committed to give proper payment for qualified workers.

Many other occupations for non-professionals are looking for employees. A recruitment center of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union says there are many jobs available for office staff, engineers, technicians, and accountants. Payments for each position vary from VND1.5 million to VND3 million.

Sharp fluctuations in labour market

Head of the Employment Centre for young people Nguyen Van Sang said the fluctuations in the labour market early this year can be attributed to allocation of labourers in different periods and changes in restructuring industries.

Previously, the garment and footwear sectors have attracted a lot of workers. Nowadays, the service and trade sectors have developed strongly, attracting many employees from other industries. With the development of the national economy, all industries have tended to expand their scale of production, so there are large demands for labour.

Some want to quit their current jobs, as they are weary of the working environment while others cannot withstand the pressure of work. However, salary is an important issue, as workers always want to seek high-income jobs.

The number of people of working age increases every year but there is still a shortage of labour. Mr Sang said that there is a large number of labourers available but most of them fail to meet the strict requirements of enterprises. For example, employers want to recruit staff who are fluent in English but pay them only VND1-1.2 million per month. Generally speaking, employees are not satisfied with the salary scale adopted by employers.