According to Vietnamworks, this is the biggest growth worker demand has seen in the past three years. Most vacancies are in architecture, interior design, consultancy, retail and wholesale, advertisement, public relations and production.

The number of job seekers rose 17 per cent, compared with a 5-per-cent decrease in the same period last year.

According to Gake Echizenya, managing director of Vietnamworks, competition rates among job seekers in the first half of the year were the lowest in the past three years, due to a surge in labour demand.

On average one job seeker had to compete against 46 others for a vacancy in the first six months of the year, while the rate in previous years ranged from 1:53 to 1:69, he said.

Fiercer competition was seen in accounting (1:85) and secretary positions (1:70), while education, pharmaceuticals and agriculture witnessed lower competition, with rates of 1:33, 1:38 and 1:25, respectively.

HCM City's Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (FALMI) said enterprises in the city would need 140,000 workers in the last two quarters of the year.

It said 30,000 of those needed would be recruited for temporary positions. The number of job seekers is expected to increase by 10 per cent over the first six months of the year, it added.

FALMI Vice Director Tran Anh Tuan underscored that there would be a sharp rise in demand for high-quality labourers and senior managers. Most vacancies will be in engineering, electronics, information technology (IT), food processing, chemistry and services.

VNS