The impact of COVID-19 has hit businesses in multiple ways, and recruitment is no exception. Your plans to take on more staff may have gone out the window, or conversely, you might be having to hire more people than you’ve ever had to before.
The virus is, unsurprisingly, having a huge impact on businesses and the recruitment industry is certainly not immune to that. Businesses have to adapt quickly to survive and the legacy of COVID-19 may forever change the nature of recruitment and the workplace landscape.
Generally, After the Vietnamese Lunar New Year Holidays, Most of the companies start implementing their yearly recruitment strategy but due to COVID 19 Pandemic, as global markets panicked and economic activity stopped in many sectors, the hiring slowed down in many companies in Vietnam also.
The most affected industries are Hospitality, Tourism, Real Estates, Financial Sectors, Retail, Banking, Manufacturing (Footwear, Garments, Machine Building, Textiles)Many of the employees from these industries are facing monthly salary deduction, furlough and lay off as companies across multiple sectors suffered losses and still struggling to reach a return on investment.
In early Feb 2020, many of the employers freeze their hiring process and hold business expansion execution.
In early March 2020, Most of the entry-level junior laid off and middle-level candidates start facing pay cuts, lay off as many manufacturing companies start facing difficulty in paying the salaries to their employees as the cashflow affected. 56% of the companies executed salary deductions considering the business situation and many manufacturing units had to face a lack of raw material due to disturbance in the supply chain cycle.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s stated that From January 1 to March 26, over 153,000 people applied for unemployment benefits, mostly former workers in the transportation, garment, footwear, tourism, hospitality, and food sectors.
During this time E-Commerce, Internet Technology, Online Streaming, Web Payment Gateway, Healthcare/Medical Device, Food Manufacturing industries continue their recruitment activities as there is a constant demand.
In Q2, Employers in Vietnam revised their hiring plan to recover the prior quarter losses, and recruitment is moving forward gradually.
The recruitment activities will take the next 3 – 5 months to be back to normal and hopefully, the Unemployment rate will reduce as soon as the business starts getting back to normal. Meanwhile, Entry-level candidates are actively looking for a stable job in the market However, passive middle and senior-level candidates are cautious about the job change and stability in new employment during this tenure.
The recruitment market has been hit hard but there is good news.
Vietnam is considered a potential manufacturing center and since 2019 many manufacturing units have been moving from China, Thailand, and Singapore to Vietnam.Once this Pandemic gets over, there is a possibility of shifting many more manufacturing units to Vietnam, and recruitment activities in the manufacturing sector will rise.
During these tough times, Empathy and constant support in the job search are what an active job seeker is seeking. At Employment Vietnam, we are helping active candidates to build professional connections and introducing them to prospective employers.
