Labour shortages ease after Tet

Hanoi (VNA) - This year, labour shortages after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday are not as serious as in previous years because enterprises and localities have good policies to attract workers to return. A large number of labourers who did not return to their hometown to celebrate Tet, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are also an abundant source for businesses to restore production.

Attractive policies

According to Binh Duong province’s Confederation of Labour, the majority of enterprises in the industrial zones resumed their operations on February 7. Up to 80% of workers have returned, a higher percentage than in previous years.

The high ratio of workers who return to work in the locality was attributed to the fact that about 500,000 workers from other provinces didn’t return to their hometowns for Tet.

Those from the southwestern, Central Highlands and central provinces returned after a week. Hundreds of thousands of labourers returned to the southern province on February 5-6 to get back to work.

A lot of activities were organised by the province and trade unions to care for disadvantaged labourers to make them feel engaged in their work.

In the southern province of Dong Nai, many enterprises held draws and granted lucky money on the first working days of the new lunar year. The Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company in Bien Hoa City’s Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park is a typical example. The company spent more than 8 billion VND (nearly 342,500 USD) on such activities. Workers have a chance to win attractive prizes such as televisions, washing machines or motorbikes.

Enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City even arranged vehicles to transport workers back to the city.

The Municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs announced that to facilitate these labourers, the city has collaborated with other localities in offering free COVID-19 tests or vaccines for them before returning to work.

Production resumption hits 85%

Normally this is a labour shortage of between 10% and 20% before and after Tet holiday, but it is not as serious this year, said Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

After a long time off from work due to the pandemic, many workers decided to remain in industrial parks and big cities, meaning there is a more stable and abundant labour force than in previous years.

According to Dung, this year, enterprises and industrial parks have many plans to keep employees, including offering wage hikes or Tet bonuses. Localities have also actively adopted measures to recover the labour market.

“Many large corporations and foreign enterprises reported that there will be a labour shortage of 10% - 15% after the holiday, but the ratio is lower than usual,” Dung said.

More than 90% of workers have returned to work after the Tet holiday in Vietnam's two largest economic hubs of Hanoi and HCM City.

According to the Hanoi Federation of Labour, some 90.24% of factories in Hanoi had resumed operations, and 96.13% of workers had returned to work on the first working day following the holiday on February 7.

In HCM City, the rate of workers returning to work reached 94% compared to pre-Tet labour strength, said the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

However, it is estimated that companies need up to 75,000 additional workers to expand production. Information technology, electric and electronics are the main sectors recruiting for the additional workers, it added./.