Vietnamese Companies Cut Back Recruitment as Cost of Materials Rise

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Oct. 29 – The rising cost of raw materials has led small-and medium-sized enterprises to cut back on recruitment, according to the Vietnam Association of Textile and Apparel.

Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, director of the Marketing and Communications Navigos Group, told the Vietnam News Agency that SMEs would not increase production by the end of the year, although large companies will still be in need of workers.

Some companies have even pared down their workforce by 15 to 30 percent to cope with the rising cost of commodities.

The Vietnam Automobile Industry Corporation had dropped production to 1,400 units, a 600 unit drop compared with the first half of 2005.

The decline in auto production has led to a redundant workforce as the corporation was forced to reduce staff. Several of its affiliate companies including the May 1 Automobile Factory have suspended signing contracts for seasonal workers.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City ’s Real Estate Association, told the Vietnam News Agency that because of the slump in the real estate market salespersons, clerks and translators had to be let go.The same scenario is also playing out in securities and insurance companies as well.

According to online job recruiter, Vietnamworks.com, while recruitment requests have decreased, the demand for highly skilled staff remains high and accounted for 67 percent of the total recruitment during the last two quarters.