Increasing benefits still makes it difficult to recruit special workers

Having a long-term recruitment position

Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Le - Director of Minh Tung Phat Mechanical Company Limited (Yen Nghia Ward, Hanoi) - said that her company regularly lists recruitment for 2 positions: CNC machine operator and highly skilled welder.

"These two positions are not united, but sometimes when we recruit people, we lose staff because they quit their jobs, go to places where they pay higher salaries or they cannot withstand work pressure. The salary for the two above positions at my company has increased by 50% since 2023, however, recruitment has never been easy, said Ms. Le.

Also having a headache like Ms. Le, Mr. Nguyen Dang Tung Anh - Director of Hoang Phuc Technology, Electronics and Industrial Equipment Supply Company (Me Linh Commune, Hanoi) - shared that for decades, it has been very difficult for him to recruit technical staff for industrial maintenance even though the salary given is not less than 20 million VND/month.

This position requires workers to grasp the process of inspection, repair, and maintenance of industrial machinery and equipment to ensure they operate stably, effectively, prolong life, reduce incidents, and optimize productivity. Universities specialize in industrial maintenance with modest supply, while market demand is very high. In particular, for those with skills and experience, we have to hire according to the case and the remuneration is at the "artists" level that we can expect," said Mr. Tung Anh.

In Hanoi and some neighboring localities, according to a survey by the Hanoi Employment Service Center, positions such as nursing, domestic medicine, industrial maintenance technicians, CNC machine operators, highly skilled welders, container drivers, shift logistics workers, cyber security engineers, electrical - automation technicians... are constantly in shortage.

The common point of this group of jobs is the requirement of specialized skills, high work pressure, long working hours or harsh working conditions. Many businesses have adjusted their salary policies, added team allowances, toxic allowances, and even supported housing, meals, and shuttle buses, but recruitment results are still modest.

Increasing welfare is not enough

From the experience of his own business, Mr. Tung Anh commented that better benefits help businesses compete more in the labor market, but for specific human resource positions, benefits are only part of the decision to return or stick with work.

Mr. Tung Anh pointed out the basic reasons why the solidarity of special human resources groups needs to come from deeper, more comprehensive incentive policies.

Firstly, the total professional pressure is still too great due to a hard working environment, risk of accidents, and working away from home.

Second, welfare has not touched the " pain" of workers when many businesses increase allowances but lack fundamental support such as stabilizing working hours, ensuring long-term health, supporting families, and promotion opportunities.

Third, the trust of workers has not been completely restored after periods of fluctuations, many workers have had their working hours reduced, their salaries delayed, and their jobs suddenly lost.

On the part of workers, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong - former Director of the Institute of Social Labor Science - said that barriers from workers also contribute to aggravating the special shortage of human resources.

Limited skills and vocational certificates when many specific positions require proper training, long study time and not small costs while many workers have left the market for a while, have lost their skills, are afraid of retaking the course or do not have financial conditions for retrainage.

The fear of returning to a high-pressure environment after a period of job interruption, a part of the workforce chooses freelance, part-time or small business, although their income is unstable, they are proactive in their time and less pressure. When compared, they accept "lack of work" rather than returning to stressful jobs.

Expectations of change after market fluctuations are increasingly important for workers to balance their lives and work. For many people, high salaries are no longer attractive enough to be exchanged for health, family time or long-term career risks.

From that reality, Ms. Huong emphasized that increasing welfare is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition to solve the problem of specific shortages of human resources. Businesses that want to attract and retain workers need to shift from the mindset of "growing money" to designing the entire working experience.

This principle is very simple: Reorganize shifts reasonably, reduce unnecessary pressure; invest in technology to reduce manual labor; build a clear career path so that workers can see the future; and at the same time share risks with workers through insurance and long-term health care, said Ms. Lan Huong.

See the original here