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| Businesses are sprinting to meet year-end orders. Photo: T.D |
The “golden” time to accelerate
Mr. Nguyen Van Be, Chairman of the Association of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks (EPZs) in Ho Chi Minh City, revealed that 95% of enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City’s EPZs and IZs have bounced back, and the rate of returning workers reached 70%.
In the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park, the number of businesses returning to operation reached 100%. The vast majority of enterprises are speeding up production to meet old orders, while others have plans for new year-end ones.
Most businesses in the textile and garment industry have stable orders until the end of the year and the beginning of next year. Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Embroidery and Knitting Association (Agtex), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon 3 Garment Joint Stock Company, said that orders are available for businesses because the backlog orders that have not yet been produced is still quite large, and new added orders are also abundant.
Specifically, as soon as the social distancing measures were eased in Ho Chi Minh City, the delivery schedule must be sped up to meet the customer’s orders so the company had to organize overtime from the beginning of October. Up to now, the company has delivered several million products to customers in Japan, USA, and now is starting to produce winter orders.
“Besides, employees are also quite keen to return to work so many businesses gain higher productivity than usual. Many businesses have considered the option of overtime to keep up with orders. This is also a positive sign for the textile enterprises in the South in the last three months of the year,” said Mr. Hong.
Similarly, in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces, the end of the year is considered a “golden” time to increase exports due to high market demand. Up to now, in industrial zones in Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, the number of enterprises returning to production activities has reached more than 96%. Enterprises are recovering production at a fast rate to meet year-end orders. For those enterprises that have not yet resumed operations, the Management Boards of Industrial Zones in the provinces are actively handling the dossiers and creating the most favorable conditions for enterprises to return to operation soon with safety prevention and control.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Quang, Head of Import-Export Department, Hansoll Vina Co., Ltd (Di An, Binh Duong), said that with 3,000 workers including old workers returning to the factory and newly recruited employees (about 10%), enterprises are speeding up production of many garment export orders, reaching about 75% to supply the US market.
A representative of Group Intellect Power Technology Viet Co., Ltd (Long Khanh, Dong Nai) said that now, 1,800 employees have returned to work after the quarantine period. Enterprises have also caught up and accelerated production to fulfill year-end orders.
Many remuneration policies are offered
Returning to work after the pandemic is under control, many businesses are still facing difficulties such as rising raw material prices and labor shortages. Timberland Co., Ltd., specializing in the production of sofas for export, needs to recruit 4,500 unskilled workers to keep up with year-end orders.
Ms. Phan Thi Cam Tu, Deputy General Director of Timberland Co., Ltd., said that before the pandemic, the company had about 8,500 employees. After the pandemic, only about 4,000 workers returned to work, leading to a shortage of workers, while orders at the end of the year were quite high. Although the company offers many welfare regimes to retain and attract workers, local workers in Binh Duong are not available, so recruitment is difficult which will significantly affect the production of the company.
In order to attract and retain employees with peace of mind, Taekwang Vina Industrial Joint Stock Company plans to welcome 400 workers from Dak Lak province back to Dong Nai to work after social distancing. A representative of Taekwang Vina Industrial Joint Stock Company said that in addition to covering transportation and transportation costs for workers entering Dong Nai to work, businesses also find accommodation for workers and provide additional support of VND2 million to VND3 million in a 12-month period. In addition, the company also has support for each worker to submit their own application to join the enterprise. Specifically, in addition to the prescribed benefits, workers will be supported by the company with an additional VND200,000.
Meanwhile, as shared by a representative of Pouyuen Company (Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City), about 80% of the company’s workers returned to work after a month in Ho Chi Minh City, while production fully recovered after workers from Tien Giang, Ben Tre return. In addition, the company is also arranging to transport about 11,000 workers daily to work from Long An.
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In addition, many businesses also support travel fees and SARS-CoV-2 rapid test fee for employees living in other provinces and cities when returning to work. Provinces and cities also set aside vaccine funds to prioritize vaccination for workers.