HCM City (VNA) - Enterprises are facingchallenges in hiring and keeping employees as a result of competition frommultinational corporations expanding their businesses in Vietnam, with manyrecruiters saying they cannot find enough qualified candidates for jobs.

Local media recently reported that taxiservice provider Vietnam Sun Corporation (Vinasun), for instance, had 8,000employees, including drivers, who quit in the first six months of the year.

Taxi operator Mai Linh Group cut itspersonnel by more than 20 percent in the first half of the year.Representatives of two companies said the problem was due to the competition oftwo new tax service providers, Uber and Grab.

Tran Bang Viet, CEO of DongA Solutions andformer CEO of the Mai Linh Group, said that drivers were important in helpingtaxi companies attract customers.

Viet spoke at a recent forum titled “How to KeepPeace as Employee Retention Fluctuates” held by the Saigon Times Group inco-operation with ManpowerGroup Vietnam.

Viet said that if one driver asked forleave because of illness, spare drivers would replace him, but 5 percent of allthe drivers were available. Now, the proportion has fallen further at thesecompanies.

The decrease in taxi personnel has led to ashortage of drivers.

“In the past, taxi drivers had to make adeposit worth two months of salary. But, now, taxi companies have rolled outthe red carpet for drivers. At this time, discipline is not high. It is dangerousbecause service quality could be affected,” he said.

"When quality is affected, taxicompanies attract fewer passengers and their profits fall, leading to moredrivers quitting," he added.

According to a recent survey of the Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, theturnover rate at many companies is more than 10 percent.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue, head of humanresources at AEON Vietnam Co Ltd, said that recruiting employees in the retailsector was difficult as many people were not used to working on weekends orholidays

Hue said demand for employees is so highthat recruiters have difficulty finding suitable candidates.

Nguyen Xuan Son of Manpower Group Vietnamsaid the turnover rate was caused primarily by startup trends.

Employees also want bonuses and allowances,he added.

Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, chairwoman of the boardof directors and general director of  the Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company, said that companies should maintain a goodworking environment and offer training to staff so they can update theirskills.

Le Thi Kim Thuy, HR director at BoschVietnam, said that enterprises should devise workforce plans and have a talentpipeline, which is a critical part of a proactive recruiting strategy thathelps to retain and replace staff.

“Fluctuation of employees is inevitable,” Thuy said, adding that such changes could help them restructure their HRsystems and employee welfare policies. - VNA