People wait at a checkpoint in Ho Chi Minh City to leave for other
southern provinces on Oct. 1, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Nearly 57 percent of companies plan to start recruiting immediately as things resume normality, after the fourth Covid-19 wave forced their suspension for months.

IT has the highest demand growth rate for recruitment, rising 50 percent and 45 percent from pre-pandemic levels in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively, according to a recent survey by recruitment company Navigos.

Half of respondents said they would recruit completely new and inexperienced employees as they seek to optimize recruitment costs, with priorities for sales and IT candidates, said the survey, which polled over 400 employers and 1,200 jobseekers in August.

The figures show a high demand for labor amid major shortages being reported in southern manufacturing facilities as workers leave major industrial localities like HCMC and Binh Duong for their hometowns, their cash depleted.

More than 87 percent of jobseekers said they were affected by the pandemic.

"We can see that the 4th Covid pandemic has a more serious impact on workers than all previous outbreaks combined," the survey said.

Four out of 10 employees have either been let go or quit after seeing their incomes cut and have not found a new job.

Around 42 percent of employers say they are prioritizing cutting fresh graduates and inexperienced staff.

More than half of respondents have been tightening their spending.

Nearly 52 percent of employees will switch to a new job when the Covid-19 situation is controlled.