Despite being heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese manufacturers in Vietnam have officially returned to production and recruitment since the fourth quarter of last year, according to a report released by recruitment services provider Navigos Search earlier this week.

Workers of Japan's Foster Electronics Co., Ltd. in Bac Ninh.

“There have been a number of electrical/electronic enterprises increasing their production to meet the market demand, and some in the furniture industry have doubled their yield compared to before the pandemic,” Navigos Search said in its Report on Middle and Senior Recruitment Demands in Vietnam Market in Q4/2020 and Outlook for 2021.

According to Navigos Search’s analysis, Japanese manufacturers in the electronic and automotive spare parts plan to expand in 2021.

In addition, many manufacturing enterprises from Europe, the US, China, and Japan are exploring the market to invest in factory construction and develop production and business activities in Vietnam, the southern market in particular.

Due to the land shortage in Ho Chi Minh City, it is expected that they will grow in new industrial zones in the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, and Can Tho city, it said.

In a conference between Japanese firms and the Vietnamese government last month, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio said 37 out of 82 Japanese firms receiving governmental subsidies to shift factories to Southeast Asian markets have opted for Vietnam.

Navigos Search added that there are also significant changes in recruitment demands in Japanese companies. For candidates who can speak Japanese only, both job opportunities and the salaries considerably drop in these companies.

As a result, English and Japanese are almost a prerequisite factor in recruitment in addition to the required professional requirements.