Factories splurge on signing bonuses as orders surge after Tet

Taekwang Vina Industrial JSC, a footwear company with a factory at the Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park in the southern province of Dong Nai, needs 5,000 workers after the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet) and is prepared to pay signing bonuses and stipends of up to VND15 million each.

Dinh Sy Phuc, head of the company’s labor confederation, explained the urgency saying the orders need to be completed quickly, now. The company had been closed for three months when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak.

Therefore, “no matter how much it costs we have to get workers.”

Every newcomer would get a signing bonus of VND2-3 million, a monthly bonus of VND400,000 for 12 months and a company-leased house, and these would cost a total of VND100 billion, he said.

Another footwear maker, Samho Vietnam in Cu Chi District, expects to spend VND35 billion on bonuses for 1,500 new workers.

It also plans to pay a bonus of VND19 million to those who have been with the company for more than four years.

Footwear maker Samho Vietnam’s recruitment notice with bonuses for newcomers. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet

Do Truong Hoang Phuc, the company’s human resources head, said the company guarantees every worker gets a salary of VND6-8 million a month. New workers will be signed up right after the interview, and receive full benefits straight away without going through a trial period.

Tran Thuy Tram, deputy manager of the Dong Nai employment exchange, said around 140 businesses, half of them in the textile and garment and footwear sectors, have registered to recruit over 13,000 workers.

“There is a shortage of unskilled workers, so factories are having to increase their signing bonuses to attract new employees”.

After the Lunar New Year holidays, which ended Feb. 6, firms in HCMC and Binh Duong have been looking to hire more than 90,000 new workers to meet the rising number of orders.

In another incentive, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed a three-month VND6.6 trillion welfare package for workers as rental subsidy. Existing employees and newly contracted ones will respectively get VND500,000 and VND1 million for up to three months.