Southern Vietnam businesses resume operations, spend big to retain workers after Tet

New orders have prompted many businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces to resume operations right after the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), welcoming a large number of employees back to work.

A representative of Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company based in Bien Hoa II Industrial Park, Dong Nai province told the press that the number of orders early this year had increased compared to last year. Therefore, the company's leadership decided to spend VND7 billion ($285,540) on lucky money and a lottery on the first working day of the new year to lure workers back early.

Dinh Sy Phuc, president of the company's trade union, said: "Thanks to the joyful atmosphere, over the years, the rate of workers returning to work on the first working day has reached over 90%."

According to Phuc, the company's leadership gave VND200,000 ($8.15) to each worker in the hope that they will stay with the company for a long time. In addition, it also organized a draw raffle to encourage workers to return to work early to meet the increasing number of orders.

Similarly, a factory run by Dai Dung Corporation in An Ha Industrial Park, Binh Chanh district, HCMC welcomed about 90% of its workforce (about 2,800 people) back on February 15 (the sixth day of the first lunar month).

All employees present on the first working day received lucky money and attended a New Year's meeting. For workers from remote provinces, the factory arranged shuttle buses to pick them up to ensure they were all present at the factory on Monday (the 10th day of the first lunar month).

Nguyen Van Hung, president of the company's trade union, said that the factory has a pile of orders with total contract value at the beginning of the year of about VND1.5 trillion ($61.13 million), or 10% of the sales target.

Therefore, the company, which provides general contractor services and steel structure products for international projects in the U.S. and Japan, needs to take urgent action right from the beginning of the year.

According to the representative, the leadership of Dai Dung, which supplied steel to build stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, plans to increase the basic salary early to retain workers.

According to data from the Trade Union of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), as of February 16 (the seventh day of the first lunar month), about 70% of businesses in the local IPs and EZs had resumed operations, with the rate of workers returning hitting 80-90%.

Tens of thousands of workers needed

Statistics from the Center of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information HCMC (FALMI) show that the city's labor supply in 2024 is more than 5.12 million people, of whom female workers account for 2.37 million, or 46.29%. The labor force in urban areas is more than 4.01 million or 78.45%, and over 1.1 million or 21.55% in rural areas.

Thus, over 5.1 million workers are waiting for jobs while the city has about 320,000 vacancies.

FALMI forecast that the city's human resource demand will be about 86,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2024, 75,470-77,168 in Q2, 68,910-73,504 in Q3, and 78,120-83,328 in Q4.

The agriculture-forestry-fishery sector will need about 72,447 laborers (1.5%); industry-construction about 1.49 million (30.89%); and the trade-service sector 3.27 million (67.61%).

Meanwhile, the neighboring province of Binh Duong also needs 60,000 workers in 2024. According to the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, this year 8,000 local businesses are recruiting more than 60,000 workers to serve their production and business expansion needs.

The southern industrial hub needs about 48,500 workers for industries such as food processing, textiles and garments, leather and footwear, manufacturing, repairing and installing electrical machinery and equipment, and wood and plastic product manufacturing.

About 6,000 jobs are waiting for workers, including 300 in the transportation and warehousing industries, 1,000 for accommodation and food services, and 2,000 for finance-banking and insurance.

According to the General Statistics Office, the average income of Vietnamese workers in 2023 reached VND7.1 million ($290) per month, an increase of VND459,000 or 6.9% compared to the same period in 2022. At the end of last year, workers affected by falling orders in the footwear and textile industries halved compared to the previous year.