Many garment-textile companies in Ho Chi Minh City are recruiting more employees to expand operations after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays.

According to Tran Cong Khanh, Head of the Labourer Management Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zone Authority (HEPZA), HEPZA now has 290,000 workers, of whom 95 percent have returned to work after the Tet holidays. The rest either took a further leave or changed their jobs.

According to the Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (FALMI) in Ho Chi Minh City, the city saw a shortage of 30,000 workers after the Tet holidays, mostly in the fields of real estate, IT, electricity-electronics, construction, garment-textiles and footwear, logistics, export and import, human resource management.

FALMI Deputy Director Tran Tuan Anh highlighted the stability of the workforce in local firms after the Tet festival, saying that most of labourers want to have stable jobs while companies better take care of their employees.

Though most of enterprises have adequate labourers, those operating in the fields of garment-textiles, processing and services-restaurants are forecast to see a shortage of 8-10 percent of employees because of their production expansion after the traditional holidays. Many local garment companies are in need of a huge volume of workers.

Dinh Thi Tuat, a representative of a jeans factory under Phong Phu International JSC in HCM City’s district 9, said her factory needs as many workers as possible. The Phong Phu International JSC resumed its production on February 22 (the seventh day of the first lunar month). A number of workers from neighbouring provinces have yet returned to work.

Some dozens of workers usually change their jobs after the traditional Tet holidays, Tuat said, explaining that, the huge recruitment mostly aims to serve its production expansion for export.

Uyen Linh Production Commerce Co. Ltd. in district 9 is also in need of between 100-300 garment workers. It pays between 6-8 million VND (265-350 USD) per month, and other benefits.

According to the HCM City Association of Garment and Textile (AGTEK), garment-textile firms have had enough purchase orders for the first quarter, even some for the second quarter right from the first days of 2018.

AGTEK President Pham Xuan Hong said the sector hopes to grow 10 percent in 2018. Vietnam’s key export markets such as the US, EU and Japan have stable demand, while new markets also see positive signs.

Hong underlined potential for firms in the sector, saying that big ones have entered big markets, while small ones eye niche markets with small volume, yet high prices.

Most of employers consider experience and skills of their candidates and advantages to fulfill their purchase orders and expand their markets.-VNA