Garment businesses worry about lack of production capacity

In recent months, the garment industry has seen many improvements as the number of orders has increased sharply, including many large-scale export orders. Although happy that there is no longer a situation of stagnant production, many garment enterprises in the province are worried about the lack of labor and insufficient production capacity to meet the quality and progress requirements of orders.

In the first 8 months of 2024, the province's industrial production continued to maintain positive growth momentum in most key sectors and industries, including the garment industry. In addition to promoting the development of traditional export markets, the province's garment enterprises have also focused on exploiting the domestic market, while taking advantage of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to seek and access diverse new markets such as Russia, Mexico, EU countries, Africa, etc. for development. In the first 8 months of 2024, the garment manufacturing industry grew by nearly 5.8% over the same period in 2023, contributing to the overall growth of the processing and manufacturing industry of 15.89%.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade, for the garment industry, orders in the first months of 2024 have grown quite well, but the biggest difficulty that garment enterprises are facing is the shortage of labor to meet production requirements. The reason is that in previous years, garment was one of the industries most heavily affected by the post-Covid-19 period. Inflation increased rapidly, market demand for fashion and ready-made clothing decreased sharply, businesses had no new orders, so they had to significantly cut the number of workers. These workers have applied to work at other businesses in the area. Recruitment of new workers in the garment industry is also difficult because of the competitive labor market, many workers prioritize choosing to work in other industries because they are easier to access and learn than the garment industry.

Manufactured at Nguyen Toan Garment and Trading Company Limited, Chau Son Industrial Park, Phu Ly City.

Mr. Sun Jian Jun, General Director of Kim Binh Garment Company Limited (Kim Binh Industrial Park, Phu Ly City) said: Currently, we have signed many orders but the company is constantly lacking labor and is in need of recruiting more workers in all production departments. The characteristic of the garment industry is that female workers account for a large proportion. It is very difficult for us to recruit male workers. Moreover, for the garment industry, in many stages, workers are required to be skillful, meticulous, and have a talent for the job. Not everyone can undertake important stages that determine product quality. Therefore, in addition to general labor, we are also having difficulty recruiting highly skilled workers to improve production capacity. Due to the lack of labor combined with the sharp increase in the number of orders, there are times when Kim Binh Garment faces the risk of not being able to ensure delivery progress. Kim Binh’s solution is to cooperate with other units to cooperate in production and hire garment processing units for the company. At the same time, it is necessary to promote recruitment, improve the working environment, and ensure policies and regimes to “retain” employees.

There are currently about 200 enterprises operating in the garment industry in the province. In addition to the shortage of production labor, garment enterprises are also limited in applying digital technology to improve productivity and product quality. In terms of investment in production lines and advanced technology in stages to improve productivity, quality, and reduce product costs, only foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises can meet the requirements. The majority of domestic garment enterprises are small and micro enterprises, and the production and finishing stages are still mainly done manually. Meanwhile, partners are increasingly shortening the order planning time. According to garment enterprises, if a few years ago, enterprises often received orders about 6 months in advance, now it is only about 2-3 months. The shortened delivery time has increased pressure on production progress and product quality for enterprises. In addition, transportation costs and import prices of raw materials for production have also increased while output prices have not increased, and at times, prices have even been forced down significantly. Mr. Tran Dinh Tu, Director of Minh Khue Garment Company Limited (Tho Cau village, Tien Son commune, Duy Tien town) said: For the garment industry, workers are the most valuable capital, but this is currently the biggest limitation of enterprises. Next is the technology factor, implementing digital transformation in production stages because demanding export markets have increasingly high requirements for garment products.

Like many other garment enterprises in the province, Minh Khue is facing financial difficulties to be able to invest and apply modern technology in operations, management, and improve the competitiveness of products in the market. Currently, in addition to investing in automatic cotton ceiling machines, most of the company's production stages are done manually. Garment enterprises are looking forward to the State's attention, continuing to have financial support mechanisms and policies to create conditions for enterprises to be able to improve their competitiveness against competitors in the region and the world .

Garment products are among the province's key industrial products. With the improvement in orders in recent months, the relevant authorities believe that in 2024, the industry's growth rate will reach approximately 10%. However, Vietnamese garment enterprises in general, and in Ha Nam in particular, are facing great competitive pressure from major textile and garment exporting countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India, China, etc. Therefore, in order to develop sustainably, garment enterprises need to promote investment, technological innovation, focus on improving the working environment, enhancing corporate governance, and training highly skilled human resources, etc.

Nguyen Oanh

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/kinh-te/cong-nghiep/doanh-nghiep-may-mac-voi-noi-lo-thieu-nang-luc-san-xuat-135995.html