Finding solutions to attract labor for businesses and FDI projects in Nghe An
On the afternoon of July 8, the People's Committee of Nghe An province held a conference on labor supply and demand, job creation, solutions to remove difficulties, and attract labor for enterprises and FDI projects in the province.
Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Also attending were representatives of leaders of departments, branches, sectors; People's Committees, Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs of districts, cities and towns; vocational training institutions; employment service units, labor leasing enterprises; FDI enterprises in the Southeast Economic Zone with large labor recruitment needs; enterprises investing in industrial park infrastructure in the Southeast Economic Zone.
Great demand for labor recruitment
According to the report of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, by the end of 2023, the working-age population was 2,230,474 people, accounting for 64.85% of the total population of the province.
Every year, Nghe An has about 60,000 - 70,000 workers in need of employment, including: people of working age; soldiers and police officers who have completed their service and returned to their localities; university, college, intermediate and vocational school graduates returning to the province to find jobs; unemployed workers in enterprises; workers in areas with land use conversion who need jobs; workers who have returned to the country from temporary jobs abroad; and unemployed workers in urban areas and underemployed workers in rural areas.
Currently, Nghe An province has 15,536 enterprises in operation, with nearly 350,000 employees. Of these, there are 260 state-owned enterprises (26 state-owned enterprises under the province's management) with more than 25,000 employees; 164 FDI enterprises, with more than 49,000 employees; 15,112 non-state enterprises, with more than 276,000 employees.
From 2019 to June 2024, the province created jobs for 241,862 workers (equal to 106.22% of the plan); of which, jobs within the province were 98,742 workers, accounting for 42.17%; jobs outside the province were 45,874 workers, accounting for 19.59%; and working abroad under contracts were 97,246 people, accounting for 40.22%. The trend of workers working outside the province gradually decreased and workers within the province gradually increased over the years.
According to a preliminary survey by the Provincial Employment Service Center, in the first 6 months of 2024, the demand for labor recruitment in enterprises inside and outside the province was large, with 339 enterprises needing to recruit 45,049 workers (of which: 258 enterprises in the province needed to recruit 28,877 workers; 23 enterprises outside the province needed to recruit 7,066 workers).
According to the report of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board, in 2024 and the following years, in the economic zone, industrial parks will have more FDI enterprises with large production scale and employing a lot of labor coming into operation (such as: Luxshare-ICT Nghe An 1 - factory number 2, Luxshare Nghe An 2, Goertek Vina, Everwin, JuTeng, Sunny, Shandong, Runergy, Foxconn, Radiant, Hoa Loi, Tan Viet, Thien Nang...), therefore, the demand for labor recruitment will increase.
According to the survey results of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board for enterprises in the economic zone and industrial parks of Nghe An, the demand for labor recruitment in the last 6 months of 2024 and 2025 continues to increase: in the last 6 months of 2024, there will be a demand for labor recruitment of over 29,945 people, in 2025, there will be a demand for recruitment of over 40,000 workers.
Removing difficulties
At the conference, representatives of a number of FDI enterprises in the province with a need to recruit a large number of workers such as Luxshare-ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd., Everwin Precision Technology Co., Ltd., Hoa Loi Group... said that currently, the recruitment of workers by enterprises is facing many difficulties, because a part of the labor force in the province, especially young, unmarried workers, prefer to find jobs away from home or work freelance, and are not interested in working in enterprises because they are subject to management, bound by the rules and regulations of the enterprise, and the provisions of the law on labor.
Besides, there are many job opportunities for Nghe An workers, both in and outside the province. In particular, going abroad to work is of interest to workers due to the increasingly reduced and transparent costs, stable working ability, and income 5-8 times higher than working in enterprises in the province, which also leads to the difficulty in recruiting workers for enterprises in the province.
In addition, Nghe An's high-quality labor force is still limited, so many FDI enterprises find it difficult to recruit skilled engineers who meet high technical requirements, leading to some enterprises having to recruit foreign workers (from China, Taiwan, Japan, etc.) in the early stages of operation.
FDI enterprises also requested the Provincial People's Committee to have policies to support labor attraction such as: Investing in essential infrastructure works (social housing, housing for low-income people, kindergartens, medical facilities, entertainment areas, sports training, markets, supermarkets...) to serve the essential needs of workers; increasing propaganda to workers in neighboring provinces about the recruitment needs of industrial parks and enterprises in Nghe An province...
Meanwhile, representatives of a number of departments, branches, localities, and vocational training institutions said that the reason why businesses in the province have difficulty attracting workers is because wages and incomes in Nghe An are still low compared to the national average.
According to the survey, the current average income of employees working at enterprises in economic zones and industrial parks in the province, including allowances, is only 5 - 6 million VND/month. In case of overtime, bonuses and other allowances, the total income is only 7 - 8 million VND/month.
Concluding the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long said that Nghe An provincial leaders pledged to make efforts to accompany FDI enterprises in overcoming difficulties in labor recruitment.
In order for this activity to be carried out smoothly, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone to proactively collect data and forecast labor supply and demand as a basis for recruitment work of enterprises; and to advise more actively on the issue of building housing for workers, cultural, medical and educational institutions in industrial parks.
The Provincial Federation of Labor strengthens the implementation of grasping the needs of workers in enterprises; grasping the implementation of policies and laws related to workers.
People's Committees of districts, cities and towns, especially mountainous districts, direct the investigation and collection of information on the employment needs of local workers; strengthen the dissemination of the province's employment policies and the labor recruitment needs of enterprises in the province to the people and workers.
Enterprises need to actively have policies and incentives to help workers find suitable jobs with reasonable incomes, higher than or equal to those in other provinces; create conditions for workers to have opportunities for career development, a healthy and progressive working environment to retain workers for stable and long-term work.
