"Appe with enough buffaloes and then go home"
That statement seemed like a joke, but it was true. Sharing with Lao Dong, some local miners in the Northwestern provinces confided that the income of miners is high, so they want to work for a few years to buy enough buffaloes, or build a house, or have enough capital to do other jobs before changing jobs.
In fact, many miners, after a period of working for coal mines in Quang Ninh, quit their jobs, causing the Coal industry to recruit thousands of miners every year, but if they try, they can only compensate for the number of people who quit or retire.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Nhuong - Chairman of the Trade Union of Nui Beo Coal Joint Stock Company - said that recruiting is difficult, retaining is even more difficult because many people have determined from the beginning that they will only work for a few years and then retire.
For many young people in the Northwest, the profession of miners is not considered a long-term career, but only a temporary job to earn some capital.
With the current high salary of miners - an average of about 20 million VND/month, about 14,000 miners with an income of 300 million VND/person/year or more, many of whom have an income of 500 - 600 million VND/year - it will not be until 2-3 years have completed the target.
The hard work and many risks while always being away from home and having more and more opportunities to find other jobs, even in the countryside, are the reasons why recruiting miners and retaining miners is increasingly difficult.
"I did not decide to stick with this job because my wife and children were still in the countryside, but when I came to Quang Ninh, I had no house, and it was difficult to find a job" - the miners Ly Van Mung shared.
According to Mr. Vu Van Thinh - Vice Principal of Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries College, the key unit assigned by the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV) to recruit and train miners for tunnel mining companies - previously in the Coal industry - is not simple, but now there are many other job opportunities.
For more than 10 years now, leaders, staff, and teachers of the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries College have had to go to remote villages in the Northwest to recruit miners, because very few young people in the lowlands want to be miners.
According to Mr. Thinh, for many years now, the number of workers and laborers in the entire Coal industry has not fluctuated, but each year the school still recruits 3,000 - 4,000 miners to compensate for the number of job-hopping and retirement workers, mainly job-hopping workers. However, there are years when the target is not met.
Forests, streams cross to enroll students
The number of miners in the Northwestern provinces always accounts for 50% of the total number of newly recruited miners each year.
To convince young people to return to Quang Ninh to work as miners, the staff, employees, and teachers of the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries College had to travel for a long time to each village and hamlet.
In particular, on holidays and long Tet, the school often send groups from Quang Ninh to the Northwestern provinces to enroll students. Sometimes they can only celebrate Tet at home for a few days, then rush to go because at that time, young men and men in the villages and hamlets are still at home.
"Taking advantage of the time, especially for freelance workers, still in the countryside to celebrate Tet to meet and advise on recruitment for coal companies" - a teacher of the school shared - "Each trip lasts from 10 to about 15 days. During a trip, we met groups of people from other professions who also applied, showing that the competition for admissions was very fierce".
Some months, the school's staff and employees only stay at home for about 10 days, while the rest are wandering around the remote villages and hamlets of the Northwest and some Central provinces.
Depending on the title and tasks, the school assigns targets to each individual and unit in recruiting miners. The task will only be completed when handing over qualified miners to coal companies, only recruiting and then sending workers to Quang Ninh for training, which is not calculated because the rate of drop-off when studying is quite high.
To retain miners, Mr. Le Thanh Xuan - Chairman of TKV Trade Union - said that for many years, in addition to increasing income, TKV and its member companies have had many outstanding mechanisms and policies to attract and retain miners, from working conditions, increasing income, to health care, spirit, and accommodation.
Currently, at many companies, miners have been living in spacious and modern apartment buildings. Every year, units often arrange free shuttle buses for miners and their relatives to return home for holidays and Tet, as well as organize many sightseeing and domestic and international tours for miners...
However, recruiting and retaining miners is still very difficult.
