Excess general labor, shortage of quality jobs
Nguyen Van Hon, Vinh Trach ward, Ca Mau on the afternoon of February 21 (the 5th day of Lunar New Year) and relatives returned to Ho Chi Minh City to work after Tet. He said that he has been a worker for 2 years, taking advantage of going up early to change rooms to work next Monday. According to Hon, his income is not high, but in his hometown there is no stable job, so he has to leave his hometown to find a job.
Ca Mau Provincial Department of Home Affairs said: The labor force working in enterprises and production facilities in Ca Mau is more than 31,000 people, of which the business sector accounts for a dominant proportion. However, most of the labor belongs to the general group, without in-depth vocational training.
The proportion of workers with technical expertise accounts for just over 30%, while more than 20,000 workers are in the group that has not been formally trained. This structure shows that the province's human resources are large in quantity but still limited in quality, not meeting the increasing demands of the labor market.
Notably, more than half of the current labor force belongs to the group over 35 years old. Young workers under 35 years old participating in the formal employment sector are not many, reflecting the reality that local youth face difficulties in finding stable jobs right at home.
Although Ca Mau has strengths in agriculture and fisheries and is attracting investment in industrial parks and economic zones, the number of new jobs created annually is still not commensurate with the scale of the labor force. The mismatch between labor supply and demand, especially between labor qualifications and business requirements, is the main reason why many people cannot find suitable jobs on the spot.
Accepting to leave hometown to find a job
After Tet, many Ca Mau workers return to major industrial centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai to continue working.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung, Vinh Loi commune, Ca Mau province, said that she and her family of 7 workers have been working in Binh Duong (old) for more than 10 years. The income is more stable than in her hometown because everyone is working. In Bac Lieu province (old), it is difficult to find jobs with stable income, so the family decided to leave their hometown.
To create jobs for workers, in 2026, this province sets a target of consulting and introducing jobs at home and abroad for about 60,000 people, including sending 1,200 workers to work abroad. The main markets include Japan, Korea and Taiwan (China), with contracts from 1-3 years. Seasonal workers in Korea are assessed as suitable for rural working conditions thanks to short working hours and relatively stable income.
However, labor export is only considered one of the immediate solutions. In the long term, the fundamental problem is still creating jobs on the spot, especially jobs with stable incomes and suitable for the qualifications of local workers.
Reality shows that many businesses in the province are in need of recruiting workers for the fields of seafood processing, renewable energy, transportation infrastructure and services - tourism. However, the requirements for skills, labor discipline and adaptability to new technologies are increasing, while most local workers have not been able to meet them.
To limit the situation of workers leaving their hometowns, Ca Mau needs to focus on improving the quality of human resources, promoting vocational training associated with the actual needs of businesses. At the same time, improving infrastructure, developing urban areas and improving the quality of life for workers is also an important solution to retain workers in the locality.
