Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a halt in labour export, companies operating in this sector in Thanh Hoa province have tried many ways to seek contracts for local workers.

Before the pandemic broke out, the Thien An Manpower Supply and Import - Export Company (TAMAX Group), based in Thanh Hoa, sent about 2,000 - 2,500 people, including 600 - 700 in Thanh Hoa, to work in Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, Taiwan (China), and some European countries each year.

However, COVID-19 has hampered labour export since 2020, with only half of previous years’ figures reached.

To maintain operations pending foreign markets’ recovery, TAMAX Group has made use of social networks, given advice over the telephone, and organised online recruitment. As a result, it has managed to send 170 workers of Thanh Hoa to Romania since the start of 2021, and it is also completing procedures for 120 others to work at food processing factories in this European nation.

TAMAX Director Nguyen Trung Kien said although numerous difficulties are forecast to remain, the company has built a plan for next year, under which more than 1,000 people, including 500 - 600 in Thanh Hoa, will be sent to work abroad under fixed-term labour contracts.

Having engaged in labour export for more than 10 years, the Vinaco International Labour Force Cooperation JSC has also been strongly affected by the pandemic. In the pre-COVID-19 period, it sent thousands of workers to European and Asian countries each year, but the number of people registering for labour export has dropped by over 60 percent since the pandemic began.

To prepare for markets’ recovery, the company has taken flexible actions to seek orders. As Japan, the RoK, and Taiwan have yet to open their doors to foreign workers, Vinaco is working to boost labour export to European countries, including Romania.

The Thanh Hoa Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities and labour export companies have been striving to maintain traditional markets like Japan, Taiwan, and the RoK. Besides, positive signs have been seen in the export of labourers to some others in Eastern Europe.

Since 2019, more than 19,700 people in Thanh Hoa have gone to work abroad, including nearly 4,000 in the first 10 months of 2021./.