Many firms in HCM City are having to deal with an insufficient number of workers as increasing numbers of people enrol with app-based services.

Young people looking for a job at a career event in Ho Chi Minh City

1,200 firms in 17 industrial zones in HCM City have 290,000 workers. 40% of demand is reported to be from the textile sector, 14% from the IT sector and 8.1% from the engineering sector.

An HR director said they had invested a lot in new machinery to cut labour by 70%, but it was still difficult to employ enough people. They had connected with various job centres and encouraged the employees to introduce their friends and relatives to the company. Still, the results were not good.

Le Van Toan, manager at Estec Vina Company in Binh Duong, said, "30% of people in our company were introduced by another employee. This is the most effective method when there’s competition between companies."

Job searching has changed in the last five years. Now people have many other options such as joining newly-established app-based services rather than going directly to industrial zones. A new app-based motorbike taxi service can easily attract 175,000 employees, which is much higher than the number of workers in nine PouChen Corporation factories in Vietnam.

Tuan, a driver from Tien Giang Province, said he was introduced to the job by a friend. He said, "Being a driver, my time is more flexible and if I work hard, my salary is good too. The only concern is if I'm sick, I won't be able to earn anything. However, I have more freedom."

Workers are flocking to big cities as jobs are mainly in areas near Hanoi, HCM City and airports.

When being asked about the labour market, Le Thi Kim from Manpower Group Vietnam said, "Workers now seek out short-term jobs with high salaries instead of stable jobs with low monthly salaries and you can only wait for the year-end bonuses. They like flexible jobs and earn money on the spot."

Pham Ngoc Diep, director of a job centre under HCM City Management Board of Industrial and Manufacturing Zones, said even though firms were experiencing labour shortages, there were some that never worry about such issues. Firms need to build a good reputation with suitable salaries, bonuses for employees and good contact with labour supply services.

Lao Dong/Dtinews