Lunar New Year is approaching: Be careful with labor brokers

At the end of the year, many businesses step up production to meet orders for the Lunar New Year. Therefore, the demand for seasonal labor also increases. In particular, this demand increases even more in the manufacturing, consumer services, food, etc. industries. High supply - high demand, but if not careful, workers can easily fall into the trap of job fraud.

"Thirst" for unskilled labor

According to the forecast of Hanoi Employment Service Center, in the fourth quarter of 2017, the recruitment demand of enterprises and production and business establishments in the city is generally stable, with a slight increase compared to the previous quarter. It is forecasted that the labor and employment situation in the last months of the year will change in a more positive direction, with the demand for labor recruitment in the city increasing by about 10-15%.

Many freelance workers from the countryside come to the city to find seasonal jobs at the end of the year. Photo: NT

Regarding the labor market in the fourth quarter, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center said that the trade, service, marketing, sales sectors... are the industries that continue to have great job prospects with high labor demand at the end of the year.

“In fact, businesses registering to recruit workers at the center are mainly from these industries. In addition, to prepare for the end of the year, industries related to production and business activities are also “thirsty” for unskilled workers,” he said.

Mr. Thanh also said that from now until the end of the year, the Hanoi Employment Service Center will gather recruitment needs from businesses, thereby providing a labor source to best serve the upcoming Tet holiday.

Not only Hanoi, many large cities such as Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, etc., the labor market is also having clear changes. According to the report of the Center for Human Resource Demand Forecasting and Labor Market Information (Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ho Chi Minh City), in the last months of the year, the city needs about 70,000 jobs. In December alone, Ho Chi Minh City will need 23,000 jobs.

In particular, in December 2017, Ho Chi Minh City needed 23,000 job positions, concentrated in the following occupations: Sales staff (23.37%); service (17.77%); textiles - footwear (5.62%); tourism - restaurant - hotel services (4.17%); mechanics - automation (3.44%)...

According to the qualification structure, the demand for human resources with university degrees or higher accounts for 15.94%; college degrees account for 15.32%, intermediate degrees account for 22.63%, primary vocational and technical workers account for 21.54%; untrained workers account for 24.57%.

Better safe than sorry

Mr. Nguyen Tuong An - Manager of a chain of 5 clean food supermarkets in Hanoi said: "From now until the end of the year, the demand for goods is high, so my company has also recruited a dozen more employees. In addition, in the middle of December, the company opened 2 more supermarkets in Tu Liem and Tay Ho, so it will recruit about 20 more employees. The salary for general workers is 4-6 million, while cashiers and accountants have a salary of over 7 million VND/month."

Mr. An also said that at this time the company has not recruited enough 20 new employees, but to help workers stabilize their jobs and prepare for the 2018 Lunar New Year, the company will offer the most competitive salary.

Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hanh - recruitment officer of Samsung Display Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Bac Ninh) said that every year, to meet the demand for product supply at the end of the year and the beginning of the year (the two largest product supply periods of the year), her company needs to recruit thousands of workers in all positions, mostly unskilled workers in the factories.

Salary depends on each position, workers from 5-7 million VND/person/month, for technical staff or interpreters the salary can be from 15-20 million VND/month. Like last year, this year the company has recruited through many channels but so far the recruitment of unskilled workers is still not much.

Regarding the increasing number of labor brokers or labor recruitment scams at the end of the year, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh warned: “Although the demand for recruitment is high, the regime and salary levels this year have also improved, if not careful, workers can fall into the trap of some “ghost companies”, be scammed or have their wages withheld. Therefore, workers from rural areas who come to Hanoi to find work need to research carefully, it is best to find a place they know and have information to go to work.”

Ms. Nguyen Lan Huong - a labor and employment expert, said that to avoid being scammed, workers should go to local public employment service centers to register for jobs. When working, only submit photocopied documents and official documents, not original documents. In particular, workers should not be gullible enough to return money or sign documents that they find unclear or incorrect.

According to Danviet