Local labor shortage, Hanoi businesses improve welfare
While many fields are still recruiting cautiously, the labor market in Hanoi has seen a local shortage of human resources in some industries and occupations.
Local shortages in specific sectors
Mr. Nguyen Duc Long - Director of Hoang Binh Company - said that the company specializes in processing food for foreign partners and domestic high-end customers, such as the 5-star hotel. However, in the third quarter of 2025, he had difficulty finding personnel to implement a large order from a 5-star hotel.
After many unsuccessful efforts, the company had to hire foreign experts with high salaries to transfer the technology. Mr. Long said that the big difficulty is finding experienced people to execute high-end orders, especially when FDI enterprises attract a large number of qualified workers.
According to the Hanoi Employment Service Center, the shortage of labor is localized, focusing on occupations with specific work characteristics, high pressure or requiring professional skills.
The fields of industrial production, operations - engineering, logistics, transportation - delivery, retail, food and beverage services and customer care still have a large recruitment demand. In particular, positions that directly create products, services or revenue for businesses have difficulty finding enough suitable workers.
Many businesses face difficulties in production due to lack of skilled workers who know how to operate modern machinery. For unskilled workers, heavy work, shift work and pressure to progress make them not stick together for a long time.
In the logistics sector, the development of e-commerce creates a need to recruit drivers, warehouse staff and delivery, but work pressure and prolonged working hours make it difficult for many businesses to recruit enough people, especially during peak periods.
Diversifying the labor market
Faced with the shortage of human resources, many businesses have adjusted their treatment policies towards being more beneficial to employees. Not only increasing basic salary, businesses also add allowances, diligence bonuses, productivity bonuses, shift meals, fuel, housing or travel expenses.
Ms. Phung Kieu Trang - Deputy General Director of Minh Phung International Transport Company (Yen So Ward, Hanoi) - said that businesses are forced to increase their income level to retain workers.
If welfare is not improved, it is easy for workers to move to other enterprises with better conditions, especially in the context of some industries lacking people, said Ms. Trang.
At Ms. Trang's enterprise, in addition to publicizing holiday and Tet bonuses, regular health check-ups, and organizing activities to care for spiritual life to create peace of mind for employees, the company also builds special internal benefits. For example, workers are given additional points for diligence if they ensure that the actual working day meets the standards; productivity scores if the goods are imported and exported at the right time... All of these scores are expressed in money and paid in the last month's salary of each quarter.
Labor experts note that the shortage of human resources in some industries does not mean that workers can easily apply for jobs in all positions.The company still sets certain requirements on discipline, working attitude, adaptability and readiness to stay long-term.
In reality, there are businesses that accept increasing benefits but still do not recruit in large numbers, but only add personnel to truly necessary positions.This makes job opportunities more open for workers who meet job requirements.
Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment - said that the shortage of human resources in some industries is contributing to the more clearly differentiated labor market: Industries and positions with a lack of people force businesses to compete with benefits, while industries with excess labor are recruiting more closely.
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