Labor shortage plagues Vietnam industries

“Air-conditioned workspace, free bus transport, and many other attractive benefits” are part of the recent recruitment notices of electronics manufacturer Pegatron Vietnam in the northern city of Hai Phong.

The supplier of Apple offers a monthly salary of VND9-13 million ($385-556) to workers. It has also been looking for managers and engineers.

Another Apple supplier, Goertek Vina, has been looking for workers who can start right away, with no limit in the number of applications.

Last week it sought procurement specialists, trade specialists, and customer service staff.

A recent report by recruitment platform Adecco said the trend of manufacturers shifting out of China and trade pacts between Vietnam and the EU, Japan and South Korea have caused a considerable increase in recruitment demand.

Manufacturing disruptions in China have made Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian markets attractive destinations for manufacturing, CEO of Adecco Hanoi Nguyen Ha said.

Industrial park data affirmed this trend, as they recorded a 90 percent occupancy in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang in the second quarter, according to property consultancy Colliers Vietnam.

Long Hau Industrial Park in the southern province of Long An said companies there had increased their recruitment demand by 30-40 percent in the first six months.

“We therefore have to recruit more staff to help these companies find workers.”

Recruitment platform Navigos said in a note that leasing, industrial property and investment managers are popular jobs but with low supply.

Companies often look for experienced Vietnamese for these jobs, but struggle to attract talents, it said.

The IT industry is also seeing a surge in demand as more contracts are sent to Vietnamese companies amid the Russia-Ukraine tension, the report said.

VietnamWorks, a popular recruitment website under Navigos, saw the number of job posts increase by 20 percent year-on-year to over 65,000 in the first six months.

Technology was the most sought-after sector, followed by finance/investment and sales.

Some popular jobs were software developers and data technicians.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said there was a shortage of 120,000 workers in the first quarter, or nearly 10 percent of recruitment demand, 2-3 percentage points higher than in previous years.

Since March, factory workers, shippers, salespeople, hotel and restaurant staff have been popular jobs to record a supply shortage, according to recruitment platform Viec Lam Tot.

There is also a shortage in high-skilled labor.

Most of Vietnam’s 1.3 million electronics workers perform simple tasks classified as low-value manufacturing, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a report released last week.

Sixty percent of businesses surveyed said the lack of skilled workers was “a moderate to serious” challenge, while 50 percent viewed the lack of professional supervisor and managerial skills as a “big challenge”, said the report, conducted in partnership with International Labour Organization last year.