HCMC needs over 160,000 more workers

Nguyen Hoang Hieu, director of the HCMC Center of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information (Falmi), on Sunday said surveys by the unit on the labor supply-demand at businesses revealed that those at the commerce and service sectors would need the highest number of workers, between 102,000-108,000, accounting for 67% of the total labor need of the southern metropolis.

Meanwhile, the industry-construction sector needs 50,700-53,300 new workers, accounting for 33%.

The agriculture and aquaculture sectors needs 123-129 new workers, accounting for 0.08%.

Hieu said most open positions required trained workers, accounting for 88% of the positions. Among them, 19.54% would need university degrees. The market also needs around 19,800 unskilled workers, accounting for around 12%.

HCMC’s economy has been bright in the first half of this year, especially in sectors like technology, service, tourism and real estate.

This has led to a heightened need for workers, with several job platforms reporting higher numbers of recruitment posts, especially in fields like sales, logistics and delivery.

Data from Adecco Vietnam also revealed higher recruitment demand in industrial sectors, as well as for experts in manufacturing and supply.

Unemployment rates have also been falling compared to the same period last year. HCMC’s employment center has received 75,327 applications for unemployment benefits within the first six months of the year, a drop of 8.79% from the same period last year.

Falmi data revealed that those earning above VND20 million ($787) a month are mostly focused on positions in electronics, IT, mechanics, marketing and human resources directors, among others.

The VND15-20 million range is for programmers, multimedia experts and logistics. The VND10-15 million range is for real estate, marketing, finance and banking.

However, businesses are also finding it difficult to hire workers. Among 654 surveyed businesses, 154 said they found it difficult to hire workers, with most of them in the sales and manufacturing sectors, according to Falmi.

HCMC has had activities to connect businesses and workers, such as job platforms, both online and offline.