Companies labour to fill growing worker gaps

A Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) recent survey over 190 manufacturers from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam revealed that 19 per cent of the total surveyed enterprises were finding it hard to source workers.

The survey showed that 32 per cent of the surveyed enterprises complained that their workers quit positions year round, while 26 per cent of the surveyed enterprises said their workers walked out the door before the Tet lunar new year holiday and never returned.

Worker shortages were largely found in big enterprises. Specifically, enterprises using over 300 workers found it more difficult to recruit enough employees. According to another recent survey on labourers’ skills jointly made by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Institute for Labour Science and Social Affairs and multinational firm Manpower Group, 1,000 local and foreign firms covering nine sectors in six cities and provinces said 23 per cent of local workers had no skills and 35 per cent of workers could not meet employers’ requirements.

Notably, this survey said big labour shortages were seen in sectors needing manual workers, managers and engineers.

Nguyen Thanh Huyen, spokesperson of French-backed retailer BigC Thang Long, said it was hard to recruit skilled employees working for bakeries and meat stalls at 17 BigC supermarkets.
“Skilled employees of these fields cannot be seen in great numbers in Vietnam,” she said. “Most new employees must be retrained. Thus, BigC has to open its own vocational training establishment in southern BigC Dong Nai.”

Like BigC, US-backed Intel Vietnam and German-invested Siemens Vietnam have cooperated with many Vietnamese colleges and universities to churn out skilled workers. Intel Vietnam’s corporate affairs manager Ho Uyen said the high-tech US investor would need over 4,000 skilled workers over the next several years instead of the existing 1,000 when its existing facility was in full operation.

Siemens Vietnam’s chief executive officer Erdal Elver said it had taken time for his company to recruit skilled employees. Chinese-backed Yue Kang Vietnam company in Long An province said the firm had been recruiting footwear production technicians and managers since September, 2011, but the supply of workers was insufficient.

Jo In Sang, vice general director of South Korean garment maker Yakjin Vietnam, said besides labour shortages,  many firms had had their products stolen and sold illegally by workers.

“Some workers and their accomplices steal products inside the factory or on the way to port, and sell them at black markets in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. “This could put companies in big financial trouble, because their importers can claim lots of compensation to protect their brand names,” he said.

Yutaka Morimoto, chairman of Japanese-backed Accord Biz in Hanoi, said almost all employers had to retrain their workers. “To lure more foreign investors, Vietnam needs to improve the quality of workers so that investors can take full advantage of not only just cheap but competitive labour cost in the country,” Morimoto said.