In Ho Chi Minh City, the labor shortage after the COVID-19 epidemic is clearly visible, because many workers from provinces have decided to return to their hometown due to difficulties during the outbreak of the disease. Due to objective and subjective reasons, many people consider whether to continue working in Ho Chi Minh City or not.
Difficulties, workers return home to live
At the end of July 2021, after a while of waiting, but the situation of COVID-19 epidemic in HCM City has not improved and the company cannot hold employees, Ms. Tran Thi Kim Huong, branch of Nissei Electric Vietnam Co. Trung 1, Ho Chi Minh City) had to return to her hometown in Dong Hoa town, Phu Yen province. Ms. Huong said she had to go back to her hometown because she couldn’t work in HCM City while she had to cover a lot of expenses.
Fortunately, the company also paid 75% of her basic salary, so she also has a few million dong to spend. Currently, hearing that the company needs workers, Ms. Huong wants to go back to HCM City to work but there is no way to go.
Similarly, Ms. Thieu Thi My Hien, employee of Viet Hung Joint Stock Company (District 12, HCM City) also returned to her hometown in Tay Hoa district, Phu Yen province from the beginning of August 2021. Ms. Hien confided: “The company has to take a long break from work to prevent the epidemic. It’s so difficult in Ho Chi Minh City right now, there is no salary, so they have to rent a house, so they take advantage of going back to their hometown to help their parents grow vegetables and rice. When the pandemic is over, I will consider returning to work.”
The cases of Ms. Huong and Ms. Hien are just examples of workers facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 epidemic, having to return to their hometown to avoid the epidemic and reduce the burden of spending. Recently, many workers in HCM City have returned to their hometown to avoid the epidemic – this is also one of the many reasons leading to the risk of labor shortage when production activities are reopened.
Mr. Nguyen Uy Danh – Chairman of Pepperl + Fuchs Vietnam Company (Tan Thuan EPZ) – said that due to the prolonged epidemic, employees feel depressed, so many people have returned to their hometown to avoid the epidemic and it is difficult for them to return in time if the business resumes production.
The human resources director of a company with nearly 11,000 employees in the Northwest Cu Chi Industrial Park, said that many workers have returned to their hometown and the possibility of returning to work after the epidemic is not high. The reason is, when the epidemic outbreak lasts for a long time, it is also the time when employees realize most clearly that if they do not have a solid support from their family, they will face difficulties, especially those who have to stay in motels.
“The reality proves that many employees who stayed in Ho Chi Minh City during the recent social distancing period faced many difficulties, so many people tend to move back to their hometown to find a suitable new job and surely in the long run many businesses will labor shortage,” said the human resources director.
The possibility of labor shortage is high
Difficulty in recruiting is the reality that many businesses in HCM City are facing. Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Dai – Chairman of Juki Vietnam Company (Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone) – said that the company’s normal human demand is about 1,450 employees, but it only maintains a stable workforce of about 1,200 people. The company has posted many times to recruit labor but not enough, so when the epidemic is controlled and production activities are normal, the risk of labor shortage is certain.
Mr. Luu Kim Hong – Chairman of the Union of Nidec Vietnam Company (Hi-Tech Park) – said that normally his company has about 6,000 employees, due to the epidemic, only about 2,000 workers are allowed to work. Therefore, many workers who cannot work are likely to have returned to their hometown because it is difficult to “stay” in HCM City in the current period.
“Currently, it is difficult to know if an employee has quit or not because many companies are still paying employees to stop working, so many people who intend to stop working will not notify at this time because they are still enjoying a little bit wages, but the possibility of labor shortage is high,” said Mr. Hong.
Mr. Cu Phat Nghiep – Chairman of PouYuen Company (Binh Tan District) – said that the company has tens of thousands of local workers coming to the city to work. According to Mr. Nghiep, the risk of labor shortage after the COVID-19 epidemic is high because other provinces and cities now also have many businesses opened, job opportunities are many, while wages and income compared to other provinces and cities. There is no big difference with HCMC.
“Employees returning home will be able to stay close to home, not have to rent a boarding house, and not be far from their children. In particular, during the recent epidemic, many workers living in motels faced difficulties, while those with families were much less difficult. Thus, employees will have to consider whether or not to continue working in Ho Chi Minh City,” Nghiep said.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
Source: https://laodong.vn/cong-doan/tpho-chi-minh-nguy-co-thieu-hut-lao-dong-953914.ldo
