Dong Nai labours to work

Job-hopping workers are proving a big headache for employers

Southern Dong Nai province may lack 35,000 labourers needed to meet local firms’ business expansion plans.

Hong Kong-headquartered clothing giant company Esquel Group is having trouble recruiting 1,000 unskilled and skilled workers to its new facility in Dong Nai province.

“With 500 workers, we need 1,000 more when we have more production orders from overseas customers. However, we find it difficult for us to have enough workers even though there are labour sources from other companies which have been busted or scaled down production in the province,” said a source from Asia Garment Manufacturer Vietnam, Esquel Group’s subsidiary in Vietnam.

The world’s leading producer of premium cotton shirts clients includes  many top global brands such as Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Nike and Ralph Lauren.

In a similar situation, Dong Nai province’s Nhon Trach I Industrial Zone-based Wha II Vina Company is looking for another 750 workers to be recruited till May, 2013 when its second manufacturing plant’s second phase comes into operational.

This demand, according to Whal II Vina Company, was not a simple story because workers in Dong Nai like to job-hop, especially as the second phase of new facility will start production after next year’s Tet holidays when immigrated workers often leave work for their homeland.

Bien Hoa II Industrial Zone-located Tae Kwang Vina Industrial even announced daily interviews in its production base to grab workers.

The province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs director Dao Ngoc Hoang said in 2012, enterprises in Dong Nai would need around 70,000 new labourers, mainly on garment, foot-wear, processing and electronic sectors. But the lack of local workers  will be likely to occur when the province only can provide nearly 40,000 workers.

The Asia Garment Manufacturer Vietnam source said that competition to attract skilled and unskilled workers in Dong Nai’s enterprises was fiercer and up to 50 per cent of the workers in his company were from other provinces.

Also, according to Dong Nai Provincial Department of Planning and Investment’s (DPI) director Bo Ngoc Thu, the lack of workers was hurting the province to lure investors.

Thu said Dong Nai had attracted $1 billion from foreign direct investment (FDI) despite the economic downturn, ranking the province third nationally in attracting FDI after Binh Duong and Haiphong between January and September this year.

Within the first nine months, the province issued 34 new investment certificates for foreign invested projects capitalised at nearly $600 million and approved expanded  capital for 44 existing foreign invested firms valued at $445 million. Those projects mainly focused on mechanics, electronic spare parts assembling and food processing.