Can Tho City Faces Structural Labor Market Challenges

Can Tho City in southern Vietnam is facing structural challenges in its labor market, despite efforts to connect supply and demand. A significant mismatch exists between job seekers and available positions, particularly a shortage of unskilled labor. This is exacerbated by changing youth values and a disconnect between educational institutions and market needs. According to the Department of Home Affairs, in the first half of 2026, Can Tho City created employment for 54,656 workers, achieving 56.93% of the annual plan. Among these, over 1,500 workers went abroad under contract, signaling positive efforts in local employment. Surveys of over 1,900 businesses in the city indicate that over 213,000 workers are stably employed, with women constituting over 25%. This success is largely attributed to businesses maintaining their production and business pace, playing a vital role in ensuring worker incomes. To bridge the gap between businesses and job seekers, the City Employment Service Center (Department of Home Affairs) has implemented a comprehensive range of connection channels, involving hundreds of activities. These include 56 job exchange sessions reaching down to communes and wards, two large job fairs, 12 fixed consultation points, and notably, 33 "job coffee" sessions—a flexible approach designed to remove psychological barriers for job seekers. Beyond local efforts, Can Tho has pioneered successful online job exchanges linking with Ho Chi Minh City and other Mekong Delta provinces, expanding job opportunities. However, Can Tho's labor market reveals existing inadequacies. The segment of untrained labor and workers without formal qualifications (unskilled labor) represents a large proportion of both supply and demand (53% and 47%, respectively). Business recruitment needs are concentrated in roles such as food processing, woodworking, garment, footwear, and general labor, accounting for nearly 35% of demand. Conversely, job seeker preferences align similarly. Despite this, many businesses in the city struggle to find enough unskilled workers. The primary reason is that today's youth prioritize jobs with flexible environments and stable incomes, causing direct production sectors (factories, industrial workshops) to gradually lose their appeal. While the city has a considerable number of university and college graduates, a low percentage chooses to stay and work in Can Tho, leading to a severe shortage of high-quality labor needed for digital transformation and automation. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between the training programs offered by vocational education institutions and the actual needs of the market. The information system is also fragmented and has not yet reached remote areas. Need for Policies to "Retain" Workers Currently, TKG Taekwang Can Tho Co., Ltd., a South Korean investor specializing in high-quality shoe processing in Hung Phu 2B Industrial Park, needs to recruit 900 workers per month but can only hire about 600. From now until the end of the year, the company requires 3,000 additional workers for sole and shoe upper assembly to meet production expansion demands, offering attractive income and welfare benefits. Ms. Duong Ngoc Khanh, Head of Planning at TKG Taekwang Can Tho Co., Ltd., stated that the current recruitment difficulty stems from young workers' reluctance to work shifts and their aversion to the regulated hours and industrial work discipline. Additionally, the number of candidates from local areas is decreasing as they tend to move to larger cities. The company hopes the city leadership will enhance connections and share recruitment information with job seekers, and survey and gather unemployed individuals to facilitate direct information sharing and consultation based on the "3T" principle (Create local opportunities, Local consultation, Local recruitment) to meet the company's expansion needs. Given the labor-intensive nature of the seafood processing sector, especially the need for seasonal workers to meet orders, Mr. Tran Van Pham, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company, proposed that besides enhancing labor connections and supply, Can Tho City should establish mechanisms to support businesses using seasonal labor, ensuring compliance with legal regulations while safeguarding the rights of all parties. He also emphasized the need to focus on building worker housing and schools in industrial zones to help workers feel secure and committed to their employers long-term. To fundamentally address this issue, the Can Tho City People's Committee needs to shift its focus to "retaining" workers by encouraging businesses to improve incomes, commit to social security conditions, enhance social welfare, and implement sustainable housing policies. Education and vocational training must transition towards "training on demand" and direct orders from businesses. Training programs should be firmly positioned according to key economic sectors, priority fields, and aligned with the Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development of Can Tho City until 2030, with a vision towards 2050. Concurrently, the city must upgrade its labor market by building a multi-dimensional and synchronized information system. It should focus on aggressively exploiting the National Job Exchange and optimizing digital communication channels (portals, social media, radio, television) combined with a network of grassroots collaborators to ensure a smooth and transparent flow of employment information. THANH TAM Article and Photos Editor-in-Chief: Le Quoc Minh Head Office: 71 Hang Trong - Hanoi. Tel: (84) 24 382 54231/382 54232 Fax: (84) 24 382 55593. E-mail: [email protected]