Businesses need to be more proactive in attracting workers.
After being in the top 10 provinces attracting the largest FDI investment in the country for 2 consecutive years, Nghe An is about to have a number of large projects come into operation, so the demand for labor recruitment in the near future will be very large.
According to the survey results of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board, in the period of 2022-2025, enterprises in the Economic Zone need about 90 thousand workers. Currently, with over 130 operating enterprises, the Southeast Economic Zone has attracted nearly 42,000 workers.
There are more than 10 projects about to come into operation, including large projects, so the demand for labor recruitment is very large and is expected to need 50,000 workers.
At meetings with the provincial People's Committee leaders in early July, FDI enterprises raised the issue and hoped that the province would support and facilitate access and recruitment. The Southeast Economic Zone Management Board also continuously posted recruitment information publicly on its website; and shared it on other information pages and social networks, but recruitment was still difficult.
One of the reasons why it is difficult to recruit workers at FDI enterprises today is because enterprises need 66% of their workers to be female and 55-60% of them to be unskilled workers with no training.
A leader of the Department of Labor, Employment and Occupational Safety, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shared: The province has a large population, each year there are 36 - 40 thousand people entering the working age. However, because most of the workers choose to go abroad to work, work outside the province or work as freelancers, the number of workers participating in the local labor market is not much.
Nghe An's employment report in recent years shows that, of the approximately 50,000 workers who need jobs each year, approximately 20,000 are exported, accounting for 40%, approximately 10,000 workers go to work outside the province; approximately 20,000 workers stay in the locality. However, of the approximately 20,000 people who stay in the locality, nearly 10,000 are self-employed and do not participate in the labor market.
In fact, businesses and industrial zones only have about 10 thousand people left to recruit. Not only that, businesses in Nghe An mainly recruit unskilled workers. Businesses have difficulty recruiting and retaining workers because if they pay low wages, workers will quit their jobs and change jobs if there is an opportunity or better income...
In addition, according to many Nghe An workers, the reason they choose to go abroad to work or work far away is because the income of enterprises in the province is too low, only from 6-9 million VND/month. With the same working time of 8 hours/day and the same nature and volume of work, but if working abroad, the monthly income is from 30-45 million VND/person; if working in industrial parks outside the province, it fluctuates from 12-17 million VND/person, which is not fair.
Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Employment and Labor Safety, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs said: Income level is the biggest bottleneck and obstacle for enterprises in the economic zone. Although Nghe An enterprises are paying wages to workers in accordance with the regulations on regional minimum wages, it is still low in the context of increasing living costs.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Dinh Van Phong - Head of Enterprise and Labor Department, Southeast Economic Zone shared more: The demand for recruiting workers to work in VSIP, WHA, Hoang Mai I Industrial Parks is increasing. However, the limitation of FDI enterprises is that they want to recruit unskilled, untrained workers to take advantage of cheap labor. This is a miscalculation because Nghe An workers have many options. Like other provinces, the cost of living of workers is increasing, so low wages will make it difficult to recruit good workers.
The issue of labor working in factories and industrial parks in Nghe An is currently quite urgent, requiring drastic participation from local authorities, investors, businesses, the labor sector, vocational training schools, and employment service establishments...
In the coming time, enterprises and FDI investors in Nghe An will not only have to invite and attract workers in Nghe An but also have to attract workers from other provinces to work in Nghe An and pay them decent salaries.
Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Employment and Labor Safety, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs said: Recently, a number of enterprises and investors with large labor needs such as Luxshare ICT Group, Juteng ... have sent documents to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs for support. In fact, the industry and localities have had many solutions to support enterprises and investors in accessing labor resources. However, to be more effective, enterprises and investors must be proactive, cooperative, public and promote their advantages.
Mr. Hoang Sy Tuyen - Head of the Career Guidance Department, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs added: The province's annual training target is about 15,000 workers, of which about 10,000 targets are assigned to intermediate vocational training institutions in the province and about 5,000 targets are assigned to Central vocational colleges located in the area. While some businesses in the South proactively contact and connect with schools to recruit workers after graduation, businesses and investors in Nghe An are still quite "comfortable".
To attract, the province needs to have support policies to connect students at vocational training institutions to businesses for internships, to familiarize themselves with factory equipment; students and workers who meet the conditions and standards will be recruited immediately. Enterprises and employers must work closely with schools to sign order contracts, if necessary, sign support contracts from the second year so that after graduation, meeting the standards of employers, working well and being paid a fair salary, parents will change.
At a recent working session of the Provincial People's Committee with FDI enterprises and departments to connect labor recruitment for Industrial Parks, Mr. Vi Ngoc Quynh - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shared: In order to retain workers at enterprises and attract workers from industrial parks outside the province, the province needs to be determined and focus on accelerating the progress of social infrastructure projects, taking care of social security for workers such as social housing policies, health check-up conditions, kindergartens for children of workers in concentrated industrial parks; housing for experts, etc.
In the long term, it is necessary to study and develop specific support policies for workers who have made outstanding contributions in Nghe An. Along with creating favorable conditions for enterprises that employ many workers to enjoy the province's support policies according to the province's resolution on investment support, enterprises and investors that take care of and build housing for workers should be honored and rewarded.
