Low skills stymie rural workers

22:21' 02/05/2008 (GMT+7)
Rural labourers are finding they can’t hack it in cities
A huge number of labourers from rural areas are migrating to the cities to find work, but due to low qualifications most are finding they can only pursue low-paying manual labour.
Manager of a private company in Thanh Hoa Province, Pham Dang Khuyen (left), instructs farmers to make rattan products for export. Most rural workers are untrained.
This trend has highlighted the poor vocational orientation among the masses of job-seekers pouring into the cities.
Rural labour accounts for more than 70% of all labour nationwide, and most labourers have not undertaken any vocational training course. Meanwhile, about 331,430 ha of farming land will be rezoned for other activities during the 2006-2010 period, which means that more than 2.5mil farmers will lose their means of making an income, according to statistics from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
It’s a problem that’s reflected in most of the restaurants and garages in Hanoi, where it is easy to find workers who are from the rural areas of northern Vinh Phuc, Ha Tay, Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa provinces.
Many of these workers start manual work to survive day to day, and do not spend much time to plan for a better job in the future.
Nguyen Van Tuan from Giao Thuy District, in the northern province of Nam Dinh, said he came to the capital to find work, following the lead of many of his friends who left the countryside for the big smoke.
Tuan said that after three years in the city, he still hadn’t found a stable job. He used to work as a waiter, gas station attendant and also collected and recycle old electronic products.
Each time he grew dissatisfied with his work, he returned to Giao Thuy. But his time back in the countryside was always short, as the low income he made from farming motivated him to again try his luck in the city.
With a salary between VND600,000-VND1mil per month, people like Tuan find it hard to survive in the city without any savings to help them establish a new life.

Some employers in the city raise concerns about rural workers, saying that they are not reliable as many decide to quit their jobs to return to the countryside.

"Most of the people we hire from rural areas have the idea that they can quit their jobs whenever they want, and that’s why we can’t totally trust them," said one restaurant owner in Hanoi.

Focus on training

Training rural labourers is the primary target in plans on tackling the problem. But so far, vocational training hasn’t provided a solution, due to poor labour management methods and ineffective training.

Many rural labourers have only completed secondary school and have no other qualifications or training.

Lam Van Cong from Ha Hoa, Phu Tho has worked as a cleaner in a hotel since he was 16 years old. Cong said that when he started his job, he didn’t have any idea about what he was supposed to do.

"Other cleaners helped to guide me sometimes and I became used to my job without taking any vocational training courses," said Cong.

"If I take a course, it will cost me money and time."

Trinh Van Truong from Tinh Gia, Thanh Hoa and five of his friends have worked at garage in the city for four years. They all learnt how to do the work while doing the job.

"If I take vocational training courses at a centre, it takes one year and a substantial amount of money," said Truong.

"Meanwhile, while working at the garage I learn the skills required for the job while also making some money."

Tran Tien Dat, director of a vocational training centre of Nha Be District, HCM City, said authorities needed to boost public awareness on the need for proper vocational training and the long-term benefits of this type of training.

"Most labourers need a job but they don’t have any direction to find a suitable job," said Dat.

"The short term benefit is still their first priority so they don’t want to waste any time taking a course."