Workers at Leoch Battery Company in Becamex Industrial Park, Binh Phuoc province. (Ohoto: baobinhphuoc.com.vn)

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 1.3 million workers moving from cities to rural areas and from economic hubs to small villages.  

As workers return, production will stabilize

Recently people have started returning to work in major cities and productive provinces. The Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs of Binh Phuoc province said in October that about 70% of workers have returned to work. Many companies are looking to hire more workers.

The high-tech zone in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, reported that about 70% of its workers have returned to work. It expects to reach 100% next month.

Nguyen Van Be, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Industrial Park Business Association, said: “Ho Chi Minh City has 18 processing, industrial, and high-tech parks with 320,000 workers and 1,500 factories. 91% of the enterprises have resumed production in the spirit of co-existence with COVID-19. About 70% of the workers have returned to work - 200,000 people. All of them have been fully vaccinated.”

Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of the Chau Duc district People’s Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, said companies have recruited local workers to restart production. There is no labor shortage.

“Companies do not lack workers, only about 5%. Workers from other provinces, such as Dong Nai province, will return soon. Now 100% of companies in industrial parks have resumed production,” said Liem.

Bac Giang province reports that its socio-economy has rebounded to a level at or better than before the pandemic. Six industrial parks have 385 companies operating with 192,000 workers, 23 companies and 41,000 workers more than before the pandemic. Big companies have recovered quickly.

Offering best possible conditions for workers

To repair the broken labor chain, Vu Xuan Hung, Director of the General Department of Vocational Training of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, said two options for supplying skilled workers are being designed to restore production and trade in the post-pandemic period.

“We have two plans. One is to send students to intern at enterprises. Second is for vocational training schools to recruit more students at different levels. Enterprises can hire the students if they need them. These models will strengthen connectivity between schools and enterprises and offer work opportunities to students that match their training.”

Vu Quang Thanh, Vice Director of the Hanoi Center for Employment Services (Photo: VOV)

Vu Quang Thanh, Vice Director of the Hanoi Center for Employment Services, said that under safe pandemic control, it will organize direct employment transactions.            

“We will organize hiring sessions for specific sectors and groups of people affected by the pandemic, including self-employed people. Mobile hiring sessions will be organized at localities to connect businesses and workers in the post-pandemic period,” said Thanh.

 The government will speed up vaccination, guarantee social security, and offer favorable conditions for people to return to work to boost production and economic recovery.