Solving the problem of labor shortage in Dong Nai province

In 2025, Dong Nai needs to recruit 190,000 workers, mainly unskilled workers

Dong Nai province currently has 57 industrial parks established, of which 42 are in operation with nearly 2,720 projects from 46 countries and territories participating in investment activities. The number of employees is 680,000 people, including imported workers and local workers.

According to the Dong Nai Provincial Labor Federation, since the beginning of the year, the labor market in the area has had many positive signals with an increase in the number of jobs created and high recruitment demand. However, unemployment and labor shortage are still major challenges.

In 2025, enterprises in Dong Nai are expected to recruit more than 190,000 workers. In the first 9 months of 2025 alone, the demand for recruitment of more than 160,000 workers. Of which, more than 136,000 are unskilled workers, concentrated in the footwear, textile, wood furniture, and electronics industries. Recruitment demand is mainly concentrated in Bien Hoa, Long Thanh, Nhon Trach Trang Bom, Minh Hung, Chon Thanh, Dong Xoai.

Although recruitment demand is increasing, the local labor supply is still not enough, especially unskilled labor. Enterprises face difficulties in recruitment, affecting production and business plans.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Chairman of the Trade Union - Elite Long Thanh Company Limited (Loc An - Binh Son Industrial Park, Long Thanh Commune), initially with only over 300 employees, the company now maintains about 3,800 employees. Of which, 80% are local workers and other local workers account for nearly 20%.

However, like other businesses, the company is currently at risk of a shortage of labor resources, with a factory scale of 7,000 workers, but so far it has only recruited more than 50% of its capacity.

According to Mr. Hung, the company's vision for business development in 2025-2028 will open more factories in Loc An - Binh Son Industrial Park (Dong Nai) and Khanh Hoa province, invest in high-performance, automated factories, gradually replacing stages in European garment export production processes.

Mr. Hung also hopes that the authorities will have policies to attract workers back to Dong Nai to work, especially helping workers feel secure is an important thing to attract.

Similarly, Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc - Chairman of the Trade Union of Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company (Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park, Tran Bien Ward) - a shoe processing company for Nike Group with 34,000 employees also recommended that the competent authority have solutions to link up and coordinate labor, ensuring social security for workers in the current labor shortage.

Workers move out of Dong Nai, need to innovate technology, build social housing

Mr. Nguyen Quoc An, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks and Economic Zones of Dong Nai province, said that in recent years, the province has made a shift towards developing industrial parks, attracting selective investment in the direction of green-clean, increasing value added content...

According to Mr. An, Dong Nai province's early development of industrial parks has attracted many workers from the northern provinces and the western provinces (at that time these areas were not yet developed) to move to Dong Nai and also given the locality a problem about social infrastructure. This problem is even more clearly seen after the COVID-19 pandemic in cramped workers' dormitories.

Mr. An assessed that the current unskilled labor shortage is partly due to the development of industrial parks in the Northern provinces and the Western provinces, which makes it easier for workers to move back to their hometowns in these provinces to live and work.

From there, it also sets for Dong Nai a new problem of technological innovation, changing business strategies, production strategies, encouraging conversion, and having better policies to attract workers. Currently, Dong Nai province is focusing on developing social housing and workers' housing to solve the problem of social infrastructure - Mr. An added.