Businesses in Vietnam still plagued by labour shortages

Businesses in the southern Vietnamese metropolis Ho Chi Minh City are facing labour shortages and need around 310,000 workers this year.

A recent survey by Ho Chi Minh City’s Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (Falmi) showed that the city’s labour market faced two scenarios depending on how the Covid-19 progresses.

Citing the survey, the Vn Express said if Covid-19 is brought under control, businesses need to recruit 280,000 to 310,000 workers.

The demand for human resources in the first quarter would be nearly 87,000, while it would be 72,000 for second quarter, 74,000 for the third quarter and fourth quarter will need 77,000 workers.

Should the pandemic situation remain complex, the city’s labour demand would be about 255,000 to 280,000 staff. The highest would be in the first three months of the year at over 78,000.

The survey showed that the trade and service sector will have the sharpest increase in recruitment demand this year, accounting for nearly 66 per cent and includes commerce, transportation and warehousing, accommodation and catering.

The industry and construction sector will account for over 33 per cent of the labour needs and this includes mechanical engineering, electronics production, food processing, beverage, and pharmaceuticals.

The survey also showed that up to 86 per cent of recruitment demand does not require workers to have a degree.

Falmi stated that on average, the city produces about 500,000 students and graduates each year, including from university, college, intermediate, elementary and vocational training levels.

Therefore, it is expected the city’s labour force will meet recruitment demand this year.

The agency noted that this year the city’s labour force would reach nearly five million employees, of which more than three million work in businesses and factories.

According to a Falmi survey, nearly 65,000 businesses across HCMC had to recruit more than 174,000 workers last year, though the number of job seekers was only around 135,000.

Meanwhile, the Vn Express reports that e-commerce has been thriving amid the Covid-19 situation in the country.

With the Lunar New Year or Tet, more than a month away, e-commerce platforms have already achieved a strong increase in revenues during their Dec 12 promotion programmes.

Lazada said sales doubled from the same period in 2020, while the number of sellers was up by 2.5 times.

Shopee also reported a strong rise in sales during the event, with most of the orders being for skincare products and house decorative items.

Another e-commerce platform, Tiki, saw its sales soar nine times from normal days on Nov 11.

According to the ‘e-Conomy Southeast Asia’ report released last November by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co., Vietnam’s Internet economy is expected to grow by 31 per cent to US$21 billion in 2022.

Shopee Vietnam executive director Tran Tuan Anh said “the digital transformation process has been shortened thanks to the pandemic.”

The report said eight million new digital consumers had been added between the start of the pandemic and the first half of last year, with 55 per cent of them living in non-metropolitan areas.

Some 30 per cent of digital sellers also believe they cannot make it through the pandemic without digital platforms.

Lazada Vietnam CEO James Dong recently said e-commerce has transformed from a side channel to a core part of the growth strategy of brands and sellers.

Because of the pandemic, e-commerce sites have also started to sell food and groceries during the social distancing period.

 New Straits Times – January 4, 2022