Demand for unskilled workers exceeds supply

HÀ NỘI - The unemployment rate is on the increase among young people in Việt Nam, however, many companies are facing difficulty in recruiting unskilled labourers in the final months of the year, Kinh Tế Đô Thị (Urban Economic Affairs) newspaper reported.

Company representatives told the paper they have issued recruitment announcements for several months and participated in job fairs, but their demand has not been met.

Unikmart needs to recruit ten more salesclerks and cashiers for its new supermarket in October. The job is designed for high school graduates at a starting salary of VNĐ3-5 million (US$130-217) per month, and additional allowances.

However, Nguyễn Thị Huyền Trang, in charge of human resources of the supermarket, said, “many workers do not want to take the job for a long time but only three to six months. They take the job to experience and then seek another higher-paid job instead of staying with the old job for long to achieve promotion opportunity.”

Technical companies also find it difficult to find workers in spite the relatively high starting salary. Sáng Ban Mai Electricity Company offers VNĐ6 million ($260) per month in addition to VNĐ120,000 ($5) per day for each technician who installs household or office power, in addition to allowances for petrol, overtime and phone cards. The total monthly income is estimated at some VNĐ8 million ($350).

However, according to Nguyễn Văn Khánh, head of the northern office of Sáng Ban Mai Electricity Company, university graduates are easy to recruit but the company can only afford to pay unskilled workers (college and vocational school graduatess) due to its limited budget.

Preferring unemployment

Khanh said many university graduates would rather be unemployed than accept a job requiring lower skills and pay.  

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, there are as many as 1.11 million unemployed people nationwide, constituting some 2.3 per cent of the workage population.

According to Vũ Quang Thành, deputy director of the Hà Nội Job Service Centre, in the final three months of this year, demand for unskilled labourers and college and university graduates will keep growing.

Average pay for stable positions such as accountants, officers, receptionists stands at VNĐ5-7 million ($217-304). Higher monthly wages of VNĐ7-10 million ($217-304) are offered for higher skills and work under pressure, such as sales, managers and supervisors, he said.

Based on recruitment demand of companies, Thàanh said it is hard for manufacturing companies to recruit labourers. For example, the Job Service Centre has received demands for welding unit operators and contacted vocational schools to recruit them, but the results are modest. “Only 18 to 20 students register for each course at some middle-level schools. We have not approached labourers to ask them the reason why,” Thành said.

The centre will continue to conduct job fairs for labourers who come back from South Korea or military service to help provide workers for companies during the New Year festival in January.

“Young people should accept jobs which are not their major if they have ability in order to have income for their life. This is a channel for them to approach the job market before they seek jobs relevant to their majors. They should not accept being unemployed,” Thành said. - VNS