Solving the problem of "leaving the countryside" without "leaving the homeland"

“Leaving farming but not leaving home” is not just a slogan, but an inevitable trend, when workers leave traditional farming but can still find suitable jobs right at home.

Industrial parks and clusters have created sustainable jobs and stable income for many workers.

From a purely agricultural land, Au Lau ward after merging the communes: Au Lau, Gioi Phien, Minh Quan and Hop Minh ward has had a strong transformation.

In the ward, there is currently Au Lau Industrial Park, with a scale of 112 hectares, an occupancy rate of up to 91.16%, with many enterprises in fields such as textiles, leather shoes, electronic components, and mechanics; Minh Quan Industrial Park, with a scale of 120 hectares, an occupancy rate of about 80%, attracting many garment, leather shoe, handicraft, and electronic assembly companies.

Au Lau Ward has 133 enterprises, more than 1,300 production and business establishments, creating jobs for thousands of local workers with an average income of 7 - 9 million VND/month. Unico Global YB Co., Ltd. is an example. This is a large enterprise in Au Lau Industrial Park, creating jobs for about 1,700 workers, of which more than 200 are local workers.

Ms. Le Thi Hau - Head of Human Resources - Administration, Unico Global YB Co., Ltd. said: "In the past time, the Company has always paid salaries on time, thus retaining employees, even attracting those who used to work far away to return to their hometown to work."

Ms. Le Thi Huong in Nuoc Mat residential group, Au Lau ward is one of them. Having been away from her husband and children, working as a factory worker in Bac Ninh , Ms. Huong had to accept life in a cramped rented room, with loneliness and homesickness. In 2022, Ms. Huong returned to her hometown and worked as a factory worker at Unico Global YB Company Limited.

“My monthly income is nearly 9 million VND, which is less than when I worked in Bac Ninh, but I get to live near my husband and children and don’t have to pay rent. Most importantly, I get to prepare meals for my family every day and take my children out on the weekends. Life is now much more stable and comfortable,” Ms. Huong shared.

Ms. Huong is one of thousands of workers who can find a job and stabilize their lives right in their hometown, "leaving the countryside" but not "leaving their homeland".

Currently, in Lao Cai province, the labor force aged 15 and over is estimated at 836,030 people, unevenly distributed, mainly concentrated in rural areas with about 76%.

To solve the problem of employment and retaining this resource, the province has had many solutions to attract domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in the province. Besides, the factor attracting enterprises is that Lao Cai has a young, abundant and potential labor force.

Industrial parks: Bac Duyen Hai, Tang Loong, Au Lau, Minh Quan, Southern industrial park… and industrial clusters have attracted thousands of operating businesses, creating jobs for many local workers.

The province has also taken advantage of all resources to invest in socio -economic development, including choosing to invest in developing industries with competitive advantages such as agricultural and food processing industries.

Besides, promoting the application of science and technology in production, developing small-scale industry and craft villages associated with tourism, which are labor-intensive industries, will attract labor from agriculture to non-agriculture.

In addition, activities of connecting labor supply and demand, consulting and introducing jobs for workers have been promoted. The Provincial Employment Service Center has actively implemented consulting activities, job transaction sessions, and job recruitment consultation days, thereby introducing, supplying and recruiting labor for enterprises in the province's industrial parks.

Since the beginning of the year, the Provincial Employment Service Center has organized 154 sessions/conferences on job transactions, propaganda, and labor and employment policy consultation for 45,311 people. The Center has received and notified the recruitment needs of 490 units and enterprises, of which 398 are in the province, with about 47,123 workers (recruitment needs in the province are about 1,623 workers).

With the practical work of all levels and functional sectors, in just 8 months of 2025, the whole province created jobs for nearly 23,000 workers, reaching nearly 76% of the yearly plan; shifting 5,802 workers from agriculture to non-agriculture; the main shifting areas are industrial production, construction, tourism, business, sales, etc.

The above figures are clear evidence of the strong trend of "leaving agriculture".

However, solving employment for workers also poses many challenges. The quality and vocational skills in some fields need to be improved to meet the requirements of industrialization.

Although job opportunities have increased, they are still mainly concentrated in large industrial parks and clusters, while remote communes still lack non-agricultural jobs.

To solve these problems, the province is continuing to promote the improvement of human resource quality, encouraging businesses to apply new technology to invest in the province. Many key projects are being implemented such as: Phase I infrastructure construction project of Tran Yen Industrial Park with a scale of up to 254.59 hectares, expected to create more high-quality jobs for the province...

The shift in labor structure in Lao Cai is not only a change in career choice, but also a humane and sustainable development strategy. Impressive figures show that by staying in their hometown, workers can still stabilize their lives, have the opportunity to get rich and build their future.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/giai-bai-toan-ly-nong-khong-ly-huong-post882352.html