Binh Duong (VNA) – Taiwanese FDI firms in the southern province of Binh Duongreported that they are having troubles recruiting workers, in a meeting with local administration on August21.

The issue has notonly affected these companies’ ability to fulfill orders but also causeddifficulties for their expansion plans, they said.

Data by theBinh Duong Statistical Officeshow that the employment index of the province in the first seven months of theyear has been on a rise. The sectors with the highest growth in the employmentindex included industry (1.53 percent), processing and manufacturing (1.55percent), generation anddistribution of electricity, gas and hot water (7.41 percent) and water supplyand waste treatment (4.86 percent).

More than 21 percent of firms surveyed said their business performance in thethird quarter of 2019 has been badly affected due to a shortage of manpower. Meanwhile, 97.19 percent of them expected the employmentindex to hike in the third quarter with stable workforce compared to theprevious quarter.

The provincialDepartment of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has acknowledged the currentshortage of workers the FDI companies are experiencing, said Deputy DirectorPham Van Tuyen.

To solve theproblem, the department will help the firms find labourers in neighbouring localities, he said, adding that Binh Duong’s centrefor employment services has cooperated with similar ones in other localities to recruit workers for thefirms.

In the longterm, the department plans to focus more on improving skills for the workers toincrease labour productivity, Tuyen noted.

According tothe Binh Duong centre for employment services, more than 1,020 enterprises haveregistered to recruit workers through the centre. They are in need of a totalof 59,063 labourers, including 43,143 unskilled and 15,920 skilled workers.

From January –July, Binh Duong has created jobs for over 24,780 people, representing 55.1percent of the 2019 target.

Mai Hung Dung,Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province wants tolearn about the enterprises’ issues to help them find the way out and performbetter.

Binh Duong nowranks third in the country in FDI attraction with 3,656 operating FDI projects,worth a total of 33.1 billion USD.

FDI companiesfrom Taiwan (China) topped 64 countries and territories investing in thesouthern industrial hub with 843 projects, with a combined capital of 5.53 billion USD. They mostly operate inthe fields of textile and garment, footwear, automobile support industry,healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food processing.

In the firstseven months only, Taiwanese enterprises have registered to inject 237 millionUSD in FDI in the province. –VNA