Under The Influence Of The Epidemic, Vietnam Reappears The Crisis Of Shortage Of Labor

With the lifting of the blockade in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for several months, it was thought that after workers returned to work, they would be able to effectively resolve the local manufacturing crisis. Unexpectedly, instead of the expected resumption of work, a large number of workers fled the big city by the opportunity of unblocking. More than 2 million people have left, and the actual "worker shortage" will only increase in the future.

According to "Bloomberg" and other foreign media reports, since Ho Chi Minh City was unblocked at the beginning of this month, many Vietnamese workers from rural to big cities have left industrial areas in the south on motorcycles and drove all the way into the west, causing traffic chaos. The fear of these workers is not unreasonable. Under the delta variant virus, Vietnam has added nearly 770,000 confirmed cases in the past three months, of which nearly 20,000 have died. Most of the deaths are concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City, where the manufacturing industry is developed. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest and most economically developed city in Vietnam. Its population accounts for about one-tenth of the country's total population. However, the number of local confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia accounted for nearly half of the number of confirmed cases in Vietnam, and the death toll accounted for nearly 80%. The turbulent epidemic not only caused many factories to shut down and closed down, but also made workers who still stay on the production line live in fear.

According to local media in Vietnam, in July this year, hundreds of employees escaped from the factory in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. The reason was that someone inside the factory was diagnosed, which instantly set off a wave of panic among the employees. Seeing that the epidemic continues to spread, the Vietnamese government, which has always been strict in preventing the epidemic, can only allow the sick to be unblocked due to pressure from all sides, instead giving workers a chance to escape and return to their hometowns. It is understood that the employee attendance rate of some companies is less than 20%.

It is reported that in order to attract workers to return to cope with the peak production period at the end of the year, the Vietnamese government is busy sending mobile phone text messages to workers, trying to persuade them to return to work. The government dispatched chartered vehicles to the workers’ hometowns, preparing to send them back to the industrial zone. On the other hand, manufacturers have also offered higher wages and benefits to attract workers. Even so, Vietnam still cannot withstand this wave of exodus of workers.

The shortage of labor may make Vietnam fall into a supply chain crisis again. Wall Street research firm BTIG analyst Camilo Lyon (Camilo Lyon) said in a report to clients that Vietnam’s manufacturing problems may cause more problems in the fourth quarter and holidays, and may continue into the first half of next year. . In this regard, Chinese economist Song Qinghui told reporters that the challenge of this epidemic will greatly affect the enthusiasm of businesses to produce in Vietnam, or cause some orders to return to China for production.

The massive outflow of workers has also made Vietnam's economic recovery nowhere in sight. Multinational companies such as NIKE and Apple are even facing the dilemma of "no one available". According to media reports, Vietnam is an important production base for NIKE. More than half of the company’s footwear products are processed in Vietnam. Affected by the epidemic, most of the local NIKE factories closed from July to September this year. After being unblocked, they were reworked. The number is not as expected, and it is estimated that 180 million pairs of shoes will not be delivered. In addition, Apple also said that due to insufficient production capacity in Vietnam, iPhone13 supply is slow. South Korea's Samsung was forced to close a number of factories in Vietnam.

This magazine asked the bicycle industry in Binh Duong Province to say that work has not resumed so far, and it is estimated that it may not return to normal until after the lunar new year. Fengming chairman Cai Wenrui pointed out that most of the factories are gradually resuming production, and workers are returning to their hometowns one after another. However, the local epidemic has not yet been brought under control, and the future model must coexist with the epidemic.