Apple manufacturers moved from China to Vietnam. Now they’re desperate for workers

For Apple suppliers in Vietnam, the end of summer is recruitment season. In the months ahead of the busy holiday shopping rush, companies like Luxshare and Foxconn try to fill thousands of permanent and temporary assembly jobs, building products like AirPods and iPads.

Competition for these jobs was once fierce. But in the past couple of years, as more manufacturers relocate from China to Vietnam, the benefit of choice has shifted to the workers.

“There are more factories competing for the same pool of workers, and so many have had to increase perks and find ways to attract workers,” Tong Diep Anh, marketing director at Viec 3 Mien, a recruitment company for Apple manufacturers, told Rest of World. “In the past, when demand for work was high, workers had to pay money to get a job. Now that the job market is saturated, workers have a choice.”

On TikTok and Facebook, manufacturers and their recruiters try to attract the attention of potential workers by posting videos and hosting daily livestreams about the jobs they offer. Some promise monthly wages of up to 12 million dong ($492), plus sign-on bonuses.

“Did you come on your own or through a referral?” a recruitment host asks a job candidate at Foxconn, in a video posted on TikTok. 

“On my own,” the worker says. “Okay, the company will award you 500,000 dong,” the host replies, adding that the bonus of about $20 is valid for everyone who applies in the next two months. “Brothers and sisters, friends who refer a worker will also be awarded 500,000 dong.”

Just last year, a slump in Vietnam’s electronics manufacturing put tens of thousands of workers out of a job. The second quarter of 2024, however, saw the sharpest increase in orders for Vietnamese manufacturers in more than a decade, according to data from S&P Global.

“Now that these laborers, especially the younger generations, have had other jobs, it is not easy to get them back to work in factories with simple and rather boring tasks and long working hours,” David Yuen-Tung Chan, a researcher at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, told Rest of World over email. “They have a better idea about how to select factories. That could be a good signal for the industry to care more about decent work practices so as to attract workers.”

Vietnam is the most popular location for tech manufacturers wishing to diversify away from China to avoid U.S. tariffs. The country registered large foreign direct investment in new projects and expansion in the fields of semiconductors, energy, component manufacturing, and electronics in the first eight months of this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. 

Apple suppliers and their vendors have notably increased their presence in Vietnam, with Luxshare, Foxconn, and Goertek all opening up new factories. In 2015, Vietnam hosted just eight Apple suppliers; by 2023, the country had 35 suppliers assembling AirPods, iPads, and MacBooks.

One of Vietnam’s primary selling points for tech manufacturers is its relatively cheap and plentiful labor force. Manufacturing wages in Vietnam are less than half those in China, even as real minimum wages grew by 11.3% per year in the decade from 2010 to 2019, among the fastest in Asia. In July, Vietnam raised the monthly minimum wage by 6% to 4.96 million dong ($200). Still, these wages are often insufficient, and workers rely on overtime to make ends meet. Strikes in the industry are not uncommon, and workers frequently demand better pay, meal allowances, bonuses, and other benefits.

“Now that these laborers, especially the younger generations, have had other jobs, it is not easy to get them back to work in factories.”

Luxshare, which expanded its production in Nghe An province this year, has been struggling to recruit workers. In March, Luxshare asked the local government for help in filling 1,500 vacancies a month. In response, the authorities called on local universities and vocational schools to supply interns and workers to the company.

Three months later, Luxshare’s TikTok account posted a video announcing that they were increasing the reward for employees who successfully referred new workers from 1 million dong ($40) to 1.8 million dong ($73) if the new recruit stayed in the job for 60 days. The video offered tips on how to find prospective candidates, like posting on social media, handing out leaflets, and tapping personal networks. Luxshare advertised that its top “recruitment star” successfully referred 37 people. 

Vuong Van Hung, a 25-year-old security guard who works at another Luxshare facility in Bac Giang province, has taken the referral game to another level. On his TikTok account, he posts day-in-a-life videos about working there, including a tour of the company dormitory’s table tennis and billiards tables, gym, and gaming room. “If you don’t have a job yet, contact me. I’ll help you from A to Z,” he tells his nearly 14,000 followers.

For each person he recruits, Luxshare has promised to pay him 5 million dong ($203), Hung told Rest of World. “Everyone is posting, recruiting, and people prefer to get referred by friends and family,” he said. 

Nguyen Quang Nghiem, a manager at Tri Thuc Viet, a recruitment company based in the manufacturing hub of Bac Ninh, told Rest of World that his company has been focusing their efforts on social media. If they “don’t invest in TikTok, they can’t find workers,” he said.  

Tri Thuc Viet runs multiple popular TikTok accounts. The company’s strategy is to offer more perks — it offers reimbursement for travel to the interview. The company is also unique in offering workers free lodging in dormitories, Nghiem said.

Viec 3 Mien gives applicants cash rewards and gifts like umbrellas and duvets. “We offer transport with a cool waiting space, we take care of them when they’re confused,” Diep Anh said.

In the first eight months of 2024, China topped the number of newly registered FDI projects in Vietnam, accounting for nearly 30%. But Chinese manufacturers are struggling to find skilled technicians who speak Mandarin, according to recruitment company Navigos Search. Pegatron, which has a factory in Hai Phong, offers an allowance to its workers who learn Chinese. Foxconn’s livestream recruitment sessions on TikTok sometimes include pitches directly to Chinese-speaking workers.

That is how 21-year-old Duong Quang Khanh found a job with Foxconn in September in Bac Giang. “I saw that they have quite a lot of career development policies for employees, like sending them to China for training,” the recent graduate, who has been learning Mandarin, told Rest of World. 

Hung, the TikTok recruiter for Luxshare, said he has spoken to more than 100 prospective applicants. In the end, he said, workers care most about pay and the work environment: “Now workers have too much choice. Many join the companies, many leave, too. They jump between Luxshare, Foxconn, and other companies.”

By Lam Le – Rest of World – October 1st, 2024