FDI firms in Thanh Hoa hiring tens of thousands despite COVID-19

Hanoi (VNA) – Many FDI firms in the central province of Thanh Hoa are recruiting tens of thousands of labourers as the pandemic has been brought under control.

More than 35,000 vacancies are now offered by nearly 50 FDI enterprises in the locality.

The provincial Confederation of Labour and the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have coordinated with localities to step up the communication work, providing recruitment information for labourers.

Trieu Son district has been seen as a bright spot in Thanh Hoa in job generation. About six FDI firms based in the locality have created stable jobs for more than 10,000 people, each with a monthly wage of 5-7 million VND (220-308 USD).

Nguyen Van Hung, head of the district bureau of labour, invalids and social affairs, said four of the six firms are seeking thousands of employees.

From now till the end of this year, businesses need around 7,000 employees and the number would increase to 17,000 by the end of next year, as the companies aim to scale up their operations, the official said.

According to a survey, Trieu Son has more than 9,000 workers returning from pandemic-hit areas, and up to 4,000 need vocational training and new jobs, Hung said.

However, with the labour demand of FDI firms in the locality, the returnees would get new jobs, he said, adding that the district bureau of labour, invalids and social affairs has coordinated with townships and communes in the communication work.

Nguyen Thi Quyen, chairwoman of the trade union of Adiana Vietnam Footwear Company Limited in Trieu Son district, said her company needs some 5,500 workers. However, there are now about 4,000 employees.

The firm wants to hire 1,500 labourers by the year end, and even 17,000 once its new factory is put into operation in late 2022.

Adiana will organise a three-month training course for unskilled workers, Quyen added.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Kim Viet Footwear Co. Ltd and Dream F Vina Co. Ltd are also thirsty for about 2,000 labourers.

Le Dinh Bon, head of the bureau of labour, invalids and social affairs of Nong Cong district, said his office has contacted adjacent districts like Nhu Thanh, Trieu Son and Nghi Son to get insight into labour demand of companies based in the localities.

Vo Manh Son, Chairman of the provincial Confederation of Labour, said Thanh Hoa counts 35 FDI firms that have remained their operations, of which 34 companies have increased shifts for their labourers.

Other firms such as Roll Sport Vietnam Footwear Limited, Annora Vietnam Footwear Limited, and Sakurai Vietnam Co. Ltd also need thousands of labourers.

Despite COVID-19 impacts, FDI inflows into Vietnam during the first nine months of this year rose 4.4 percent year on year to 22.15 billion USD, reported the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

As of September 20, 12.5 billion USD was poured into 1,212 newly-licensed projects, up 20.6 percent in value but the number of projects was down 37.8 percent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, 6.6 billion USD was added into 678 underway projects, a year-on-year rise of 25.6 percent in capital but down 15.8 percent in project number.

Foreign investors also invested nearly 3.2 billion USD to share purchase deals, down 43.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

So far this year, the disbursement of FDI fell 3.5 percent year on year.

Leaders of the Foreign Investment Agency attributed the decreases in the numbers of new and expanded projects to the travel restrictions and long quarantine policy, which made it hard for foreign investors to make surveys for their planned projects. Lockdown and travel restriction measures also affected operations of FDI firms, they added./.