Binh Duong: Taiwanese FDI firms struggle to recruit workers

Binh Duong (VNA) – Taiwanese FDI firms in the southern province of Binh Duong reported that they are having troubles recruiting workers, in a meeting with local administration on August 21.

The issue has not only affected these companies’ ability to fulfill orders but also caused difficulties for their expansion plans, they said.

Data by the Binh Duong Statistical Office show that the employment index of the province in the first seven months of the year has been on a rise. The sectors with the highest growth in the employment index included industry (1.53 percent), processing and manufacturing (1.55 percent), generation and distribution of electricity, gas and hot water (7.41 percent) and water supply and waste treatment (4.86 percent).

More than 21 percent of firms surveyed said their business performance in the third quarter of 2019 has been badly affected due to a shortage of manpower. Meanwhile, 97.19 percent of them expected the employment index to hike in the third quarter with stable workforce compared to the previous quarter.

The provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has acknowledged the current shortage of workers the FDI companies are experiencing, said Deputy Director Pham Van Tuyen.

To solve the problem, the department will help the firms find labourers in neighbouring localities, he said, adding that Binh Duong’s centre for employment services has cooperated with similar ones in other localities to recruit workers for the firms.

In the long term, the department plans to focus more on improving skills for the workers to increase labour productivity, Tuyen noted.

According to the Binh Duong centre for employment services, more than 1,020 enterprises have registered to recruit workers through the centre. They are in need of a total of 59,063 labourers, including 43,143 unskilled and 15,920 skilled workers.

From January – July, Binh Duong has created jobs for over 24,780 people, representing 55.1 percent of the 2019 target.

Mai Hung Dung, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province wants to learn about the enterprises’ issues to help them find the way out and perform better.

Binh Duong now ranks third in the country in FDI attraction with 3,656 operating FDI projects, worth a total of 33.1 billion USD.

FDI companies from Taiwan (China) topped 64 countries and territories investing in the southern industrial hub with 843 projects, with a combined capital of 5.53 billion USD. They mostly operate in the fields of textile and garment, footwear, automobile support industry, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food processing.

In the first seven months only, Taiwanese enterprises have registered to inject 237 million USD in FDI in the province. –VNA