Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamese tourism is planned to reopen on March 15,but a labour shortage threatens its recovery.

NguyenVu Khac Huy, director of Vina Phu Quoc Travel LTD, underlined the labour supplyas the key to tourism recovery.

Hesaid his company had been recruiting experienced employees since late 2021 butto little avail. It seems difficult to find qualified candidates due tothe labour shortage.

“Fortwo years of the pandemic, many tourism workers changed jobs. Now, theyare either unable or unmotivated to return to the industry,” he explained.

Accordingly,the company has had no choice but to take on fresh graduates to pick up theslack.

NguyenVan Tai, director of Vietsense Travel LTD, revealed that his company waskeeping just skeleton crew during the pandemic, and tourism recovery hadexposed the need for additional staff.

However,despite its recruitment efforts, the company continues to have its vacanciesunfilled due to labour shortages.

“Ourcurrent staff are barely enough to meet 50-60 percent of the demand. We havetried to recruit additional staff but with little success,” heexplained.

Thedirector attributed the scarcity of qualified candidates to their unwillingnessto return to tourism, saying that his former employees had permanentlytransitioned to insurance and real estate.

TruongThi Phuong Thao, head of HR administration at TUI Blue Nam Hoi An resort,estimated that her resort needs 250-300 employees to operate at 30-50 percentcapacity, and additional 200-300 employees to exceed half capacity.

Shesaid the resort initially planned to run with 400 employees but ended up withjust 150.

Thesituation is even worse for a tourism company located in Dong Da district ofHanoi, which has struggled to add just two employees to the payroll.

Withonly four staff, the company is understaffed, and the manager has totake charge of almost everything, including product sales and tour management.

Themanager put the labour shortage down to pandemic uncertainty, discouragingformer tourism workers from returning to the industry.

“About70-80 percent of tourism labour have moved to other industries. They arereluctant to return for fear that future outbreaks will render their effortswasted,” explained the manager.

Aslabour shortage is a setback for tourism recovery, Nguyen Quoc Ky, chairman ofVietravel Company, urged the Government to provide more financial support.

Hesuggested zero-interest loans for tourism companies, which could be used toretain good staff, reducing employee turnover.

Healso recommended the Government help tourism workers with job finding andtraining, thereby averting labour disruption.

Regardingunprofitable companies, Ky called for additional support that does not come inthe form of a tax cut but an amount of money commensurate with operating costs.

Additionally,he proposed that the most hard-hit companies should be allowed toreport tax-deductible expenses for salaries, wages, commissions andbonuses higher than what they actually paid, thereby benefiting fromhigher tax deductions.

NguyenTrung Khanh, General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism(VNAT), reported 2.5 million tourism workers in the industry before thepandemic.

Hesaid 80-90 percent of tourism companies had closed down or been running atlimited capacity for two years, forcing many workers to jump ship.

Now,the industry had begun to pick up, resulting in mounting labour demand.

"Accordingly,the State needs to introduce policies that invigorate firms and lure backworkers," he stressed.

Tothat end, VNAT has urged the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to extendsupport packages to firms until late 2023.

Thesupport packages include financial support, favourable loans, lower electricitybills, tax cuts and interest reduction.

VNATalso called on local authorities to adopt their own policies to providelocal firms and workers with relief and favourable loans and to help themdevelop new tourism products.

Regardingthe lumpsums granted to workers who have lost their jobs since July 2021,the director said 80 percent of the relief package had been disbursed, and VNAThad advised the Government to step up such a policy.

VNAThad also been offering workers training and retraining programmes to help themreturn faster./.