Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - owner of Tuan Duyen Garment Company in Ninh Binh, said that the company's labor scale is about 150 people, but the actual number of workers has never exceeded 100 people, averaging only 60 to 80 people.
According to Mr. Tuan, the biggest limitation of small businesses is that profits are not high, leading to welfare regimes such as gasoline support, young children, diligence, boarding allowance, lunch or productivity bonuses are not equal to large companies.
Therefore, even though it is the peak recruitment period, businesses still face difficulties in attracting labor.
Faced with that reality, from the beginning of 2026, Mr. Tuan has adjusted his recruitment plan, no longer focusing on preferential policies but shifting to prioritizing the human factor.
Accordingly, businesses are expanding recruitment to groups of workers with fewer job opportunities at large companies.
I accept to recruit both pregnant women from the first to the fifth month and elderly workers, as long as they can work for at least 3 months" - Mr. Tuan shared.
For this target group, businesses prioritize those who already have basic skills and do not require too high skills.
He also explained that these are subjects that large businesses are often hesitant to recruit due to problems with contracts, insurance and short working hours. Meanwhile, for small businesses, flexible labor use in each stage is a suitable solution.
In addition, the group of workers raising young children is also prioritized by the company. For this group, working hours are adjusted more flexibly such as long lunch breaks, early finishing of work, and not too heavy work.
Workers can also take leave when their children are sick, thereby attracting some workers in need.
Mr. Tuan's business is still ready to recruit inexperienced workers for training. The conditions are that employees are under 40 years old and commit to working for at least 6 months after being trained.
At the time when students are on summer vacation, the company also has a plan to recruit seasonal workers. Due to the short working time, only about 2-3 months, the assigned jobs are usually simple and do not require a long apprenticeship period.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Pham Van Nam - owner of a plastic toy manufacturing business with a scale of about 200 workers, also chose a similar direction when focusing on groups of workers who are less noticed by other businesses.
I am willing to recruit people over 50 years old, as long as they are still agile and have good eyesight. When I start working, I will base on my health and ability to arrange suitable jobs. Many people can still achieve an income of over 9 million VND per month" - Mr. Nam said.
In addition, Mr. Nam's business also recruits young workers from 16 years old and provides free vocational training if they do not have experience.
According to him, the advantage of this group of workers is that the cost of salary is not too high, but the limitation is that they can easily quit their jobs when facing pressure or unfavorable working conditions.
People who prefer freelance jobs are also targeted by businesses. For this group, the company creates flexible time conditions such as being able to leave early, quit their jobs separately or quit their jobs more easily, thereby increasing the ability to attract labor.
Diversifying recruitment targets is becoming a practical solution to help small businesses maintain human resources in the context of fierce competition in the labor market.
