Struggling to find a "home"
After the merger, the development speed of industrial parks and economic zones in Hai Phong city has been strong, leading to an increasingly urgent need for social housing for workers and low-income people. Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Hoai Long informed: Currently, the city has 23 social housing projects, of which 6 projects have been completed and 17 projects are under construction. In the coming time, the city will implement 25 more projects, bringing the total to 48 projects, with more than 54,000 social housing units.
Although supply has been increased, access to social housing remains a “difficult problem” for many workers. Current selling prices range from 12 to 19 million VND/m²; in core urban areas, prices tend to reach 20 to 25 million VND/m².
With an average income of 7-12 million VND/person/month for workers, the dream of settling down is still far away. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, a worker at Do Son Industrial Park, said that she and her husband have worked for more than 10 years but their savings are not enough to buy social housing. Although there is a loan support policy, the complicated procedures, income proof requirements and many legal documents make workers discouraged.
To partly resolve the difficulties, the Department of Construction proposed expanding the subjects eligible to buy social housing, including allowing workers with household registration in other wards to still be eligible; at the same time, submitting to the city a request to increase the maximum income of single people allowed to buy social housing to 24 million VND/month.
However, in the context of continuously increasing housing prices, the solution of renting cheap housing for workers in industrial parks is considered suitable for the majority of young workers without families.
According to Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs Bui Quoc Trinh, Hai Phong currently has about 2.1 million people of working age, the direct labor force in enterprises is about 600,000 people, expected to increase sharply when many new industrial parks come into operation in the near future. "Without an attractive working environment, along with social welfare policies, especially social housing and synchronous traffic infrastructure, Hai Phong enterprises will find it difficult to retain employees for a long time," Mr. Trinh emphasized.
Support businesses to quench their "thirst" for labor
To support workers in settling down and create conditions for businesses to relieve their "thirst" for labor, this December, the City Labor Federation organized the first Social Housing - Employment Consulting Day. The event not only connects workers and businesses but also solves difficulties in accessing social housing.
According to Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Deputy Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, there are currently more than 358,000 workers working in industrial parks in the city. However, businesses still need to recruit about 40,000 more workers to expand production and business.
The social housing and employment consultancy organization will partly solve the recruitment needs of businesses as well as access to social housing at reasonable prices and convenient procedures. “The Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board will call on businesses to participate and provide full information on social housing policies so that workers can grasp the opportunity to legally rent or buy houses that suit their conditions,” Ms. Hang added.
Vice Principal of Hai Duong Vocational College Le Van Thuan said that this is a good opportunity to help students find jobs after graduation. The City Labor Federation can support transportation for students in the western Hai Phong area to approach businesses with recruitment needs. Representatives of Hai Phong University and Vietnam Maritime University suggested arranging additional recruitment areas for part-time and seasonal jobs according to students' needs.
According to businesses, for the festival to be effective, propaganda work needs to target areas with a large number of workers, students, and demobilized soldiers. In particular, it is necessary to expand the scale in the west of Hai Phong, creating conditions for more than 2,000 young people to complete their military service each year and support the group of middle-aged workers from 40 to 50 years old who want to change careers.
At the same time, an online job exchange should be opened to help remote workers access information and register online.
The Job Consulting - Social Housing Festival demonstrates the determination of the Hai Phong City Labor Federation in contributing to the implementation of social security policies, developing high-quality human resources and ensuring legitimate rights for workers in the city.
When jobs are stable and there is an opportunity to own or rent suitable social housing, workers will feel secure in their dedication and long-term commitment to the business and the city. At the same time, businesses with stable human resources will improve production and business efficiency. "We expect the festival to be the first step to form a series of annual activities, creating a long-term and effective connection mechanism, helping Hai Phong workers settle down and find work," said Nguyen Anh Tuan, Chairman of the City Labor Federation.
The first Social Housing - Employment Consulting Festival will take place from December 5 to 7, 2025 at the Vietnam - Czech Friendship Cultural Palace with the largest scale ever.
It is expected that there will be 130 booths of businesses, units, and schools participating, introducing about 100,000 job opportunities, of which 20,000 positions are expected to come true. The program is divided into 3 areas including: Job consulting area, introducing welfare policies, insurance, working environment; Social housing consulting area, displaying models, guiding the process of buying, renting - buying, preferential loans; Food and experience area. In addition, there are many cultural activities, seminars, health examination and screening for workers...
Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/giup-nguoi-lao-dong-an-cu-lap-nghiep-o-hai-phong-525830.html
Comment (0)