Four-way collaboration to unlock labor supply
Over the past nine months, nearly 21,300 workers in Hai Phong received unemployment benefits, an increase of 8% year-on-year. Supporting this group is one way to help businesses meet their workforce needs.
Double pressure on the labor market
According to a survey by the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority, businesses in industrial parks and economic zones will need to recruit more than 120,000 workers in 2026. During the 2026 – 2030 period, recruitment demand is expected to reach 400,000 workers.
Nguyen Thi Thanh, Head of the Job Counseling and Placement – Labor Market Information Division at the Hai Phong Employment Service Center, said the city's labor market was facing dual pressure: supplying a large workforce for new projects, businesses, and factories continually expanding production, while also retaining existing workers amid fierce competition among enterprises in Hai Phong and neighboring localities over wages, benefits, and career development opportunities.
To connect labor supply and demand and help businesses quickly fill workforce shortages and stabilize production, Nguyen Hong Quang, Deputy Head of the Hai Phong Industrial Park Trade Union, said that clubs of chairpersons and vice chairpersons of grassroots trade unions regularly exchange information on recruitment needs, experience in retaining workers, and business production conditions. Recruitment needs are updated and classified by location, industry, qualifications, and timing for sharing among grassroots trade unions.
Alongside enterprises' efforts to improve wages, benefits, working conditions, and career development opportunities, the city is accelerating the development of social housing, rental housing, and dormitories at price levels suited to workers' incomes in industrial parks and economic zones. This is intended to help workers from other provinces settle down and remain with their employers and the city over the long term.
Enriching labor database
Against this backdrop, establishing a four-way network linking vocational education institutions, the Employment Service Center, businesses, and students has become essential. The Hai Phong Employment Service Center serves as the labor market's coordinating hub, updating recruitment needs, providing career counseling and job placement, and connecting enterprises with students during their training.
“The center does not wait until students graduate before helping them find jobs, nor does it wait until workers receive unemployment benefits before providing employment counseling. Career guidance is provided regularly. The center will also continually update recruitment information and job-seeker demand, while promoting participation in the National Employment Exchange and using digital channels alongside in-person job fairs. This will make it easier for businesses and workers to connect without depending on specific events or fixed locations,” emphasized Tang Tien Son, Director of the Hai Phong Employment Service Center.
The city is further stepping up communications and promotion of its image as a dynamic, worth-living city with abundant development opportunities to attract more workers from other provinces, particularly those with large labor forces.
According to Dao Trong Duc, Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong People's Committee, the Department of Home Affairs will take the lead, coordinating with the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority and the Department of Education and Training to maintain a regular channel for exchanging information on workforce needs, while guiding residents in using the National Employment Exchange.
The Department of Education and Training will focus on career guidance beginning at the junior and senior high school levels, introducing students to the city's key industries.
Businesses, meanwhile, should remain open and facilitate reception, internships, interviews, and recruitment in a spirit of openness, transparency, and responsibility. They should also increase commissioned training, participate in curriculum development, organize practical training and internships, and assess occupational skills.
Enterprises should also focus on creating safe and stable working environments and offering career development opportunities to attract and retain workers. Only when connections among all parties are regular, close, and sustainable can the workforce available to businesses be strengthened and developed.
TUYET MAI