Companies in Dong Nai province are faced with a serious labour shortageas orders for the rest of the year are increasing, according to theprovince's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The department's initial report shows that more than 30,000 workers areneeded in the textiles, footwear and wood processing industries. Forthe last three months, Dong Nai-based Binh Tien Co Ltd, which producesfootwear, has tried to recruit 2,000 manual labourers, but has only beenable to employ a few hundred.

Ngo Hoang Ho, manager ofthe Vietnam NOK OC Ltd, which produces oil sealant, said most labourerswere not qualified. His company employs about 500 new workers each year.

Even though his company must retrain labourers for a three-month period, it still has a high worker attrition rate.

Only 15 employees of a total of a few hundred who are trained remain at the company.

Dang Vu Anh, a human resources representative for Mabuchi Motor VietnamCo Ltd, said the company had been unable to fill its annual need for120 employees.

Lam Duy Tin, the department's deputy head, said that low salaries were also to blame.

In addition, because many industrial parks have been built in provincesand cities, there are too many companies competing for employees.

"If companies in Dong Nai province do not improve working conditions aswell as salaries and allowance policies, recruitment will remaindifficult," Tin said.

Currently, Dong Nai province has more than 1,000 foreign-direct investment projects, attracting nearly 400,000 labourers./.