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Employees of Goldsun Joint Stock Co, a Ha Noi- based kitchenware firm, work at a pot production line. Businesses in the capital have jumped into a race to increase salaries to attract more workers. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha |
A consultant from Interserco Job Placement Centre said she had advised a transport company to increase its starting salary for labourers by VND300,000 (US$15) per month and as a result, recruitment had quickly risen.
"The average salary for a worker without a degree has risen to between VND2 million and VND2.5 million ($125) a month compared to VND1.6 million ($80) at the start of the year," she said.
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' Centre for Labour Market Forecasts said the demand for workers was rising in marketing, management, services food processing, garments and textiles.
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Trinh, deputy director of Thanh Nien (Youth) Job Placement Centre, said the month before the Tet holiday would be a peak time for recruitment as employers were worried about getting enough workers to complete contracts.
Trinh said many businesses had struggled to maintain a full workforce although they had advertised positions for a long time.
She said this was because of the low salaries offered, not a lack of workers as the city had a high unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent.
"Workers can't afford to live in the city where the prices of many commodities including food and accommodation have skyrocketed," she said.
However, the Interserco consultant said employers had only been able to increase salaries by a few hundred thousand dong, which wasn't enough to hold on to all workers.
The development of industrial zones in other provinces and cities, as well as an insufficient supply of accommodation for workers in industrial zones and export processing zones were other reasons behind the labour shortage.
Truong Van Hao, head of Cavico Hydropower Construction Company's Human Resources Department, said there was a salary race among businesses to attract workers.
Hao said his company had raised salaries by up to 20 per cent, reaching VND4 million ($200) per worker.
However, he said other businesses would raise their salaries, pushing the level even higher.
He added the wage race had created an unstable employment market, as workers were constantly searching for positions that offered higher salaries.
"Besides raising salaries, companies should either build dormitories for workers or provide house-rental subsidies and build kindergartens for workers to strengthen their ties to their workplace," he said. — VNS
