Difficulty recruiting unskilled workers at the end of the year despite additional benefits

Many manufacturing enterprises in industrial zones are accelerating the recruitment of workers to serve production and business activities, and to complete year-end orders. Despite continuously participating in job fairs, posting recruitment information and offering many incentives, recruitment is not easy.

Lower standards, more incentives

Ms. Hoang Thi Chin, in charge of recruitment at Pentax Ricoh Imaging Products Co., Ltd., specializing in assembling lens and camera components, at Sai Dong B Industrial Park ( Hanoi ), said that the company is in need of recruiting more than 200 workers and technical staff for the positions of assembling electronic components and automation engineering.

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"The increase in orders at the end of the year means we need to recruit unskilled and technical workers from 18 to 35 years old. Income depends on the position, with workers earning an average of 7 to 10 million VND/month, while technical workers are paid based on experience and skills," Ms. Chin shared.

Due to competition with other companies in the industrial park, in order to have workers, some companies accept to reduce recruitment criteria and lower input requirements. Ms. Nguyen Van Anh, in charge of human resources at Viet Chef Joint Stock Company (Lai Xa Industrial Park, Hanoi), said: "As a food spice manufacturing enterprise, the closer to Tet, the more orders. Currently, the company needs to recruit more positions for food industry specialists, accountants, purchasing specialists, but the most difficult are still more than 20 positions for workers and technicians."

According to Ms. Van Anh, the salary offered by the company ranges from 7 million VND/month for new workers, no experience required, to 12 million VND/month for technical workers with intermediate degrees or higher, which seems easy to recruit, but in reality is very difficult. "Currently, the recruitment demand is increasing, we have to increase direct recruitment. Through participating in a number of job transactions of the Hanoi Employment Service Center, it shows that while there are many applications for accounting and purchasing positions, unskilled workers are rare. We accept posting on paid job sites but still cannot recruit enough," Ms. Van Anh shared.

Therefore, the unit accepts to recruit workers over 40 years old with good health conditions and still able to adapt to the job.

Recruitment information posted on the Hanoi Job Exchange shows that job opportunities are concentrated in the young labor group, in which the age groups of 18 - 25 and 26 - 35 account for nearly 75% of the total recruitment demand. This shows that the labor market still prioritizes looking for young people with high working capacity and adaptability.

According to recruitment agencies, the end of the year is the time when employees are mentally stable, waiting for their Tet bonus, so they rarely change jobs. "In addition to participating in mobile job fairs, we also post on social networks and job groups. In addition to salaries, bonuses, and free meals, the company also applies a separate bonus policy for new employees, skilled workers, and employees with outstanding performance," Ms. Chin shared.

Explaining the shortage of unskilled labor at the end of the year, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center, said that unskilled laborers currently have many job options, both part-time and full-time.

"Although businesses offer attractive salaries and benefits, young workers still tend to choose office jobs in modern, stable environments. Therefore, unskilled workers are in great demand at this time. Many businesses are forced to switch to recruiting workers over 40 years old to ensure production at the end of the year when orders increase," Mr. Thanh informed.

Increase supply-demand connection

Providing more information about the labor market in the last months of the year, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh said that businesses continue to boost production and business to meet orders for the Lunar New Year 2026. In particular, the trade and service sector is forecast to have the strongest increase in human resource demand, about 4-5%, especially in the retail, logistics and marketing sectors.

The construction industry is also forecast to grow by about 4% as many public investment projects enter the accelerated disbursement phase at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the processing and manufacturing industry is expected to grow steadily by 3-4%, focusing on the production of consumer goods.

Ms. Nguyen Van Anh, HR manager of Viet Chef Joint Stock Company, discussed working policies.

Mr. Nguyen Tay Nam, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs, said that this November, the Department will hold the opening ceremony of the Hanoi City Job Portal. This is an important tool to help businesses, employees and management agencies promote the application of information technology and artificial intelligence in management, especially in connecting labor supply and demand online.

In the context of a vibrant year-end labor market, businesses are struggling to recruit enough people and retain existing staff. The story of "lack of unskilled labor" is therefore not only a temporary problem of the peak season, but also a long-term challenge for businesses in building a more stable, attractive and humane working environment.

A representative of Manpower Vietnam said that expanding production and implementing new projects makes the need to recruit skilled personnel more urgent than ever. To overcome the difficulties, Manpower recommends that businesses review recruitment criteria, choose appropriate candidate access channels for each industry group, and adjust salary and welfare policies to increase competitiveness in attracting human resources.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/kho-tuyen-lao-dong-pho-thong-dip-cuoi-nam-du-them-che-do-phuc-loi-20251121114907109.htm