According to the Da Nang Investment Promotion Centre, as at 6 October the city had attracted a total of 300 valid foreign direct investment (FDI) projects invested by businesses from 36 countries and territories worldwide.  They have created employment for over 43,600 people.

Da Nang now has a population of around 1 million people, of whom 50% are in the working age group, and over 87% are living in urban areas.  These figures suggest that the city has an abundant labour force.  However, many FDI businesses operating in the city now find it very difficult to recruit employees who possess the high professional skills, foreign language proficiency, communication and group working skills, self-discipline, and desires for working at their companies.

Automobile production line at the TCIE Vietnam Company

Meanwhile, some of the city’s young intellectuals want to work in other localities where they expect to have better working environments and conditions than in the city.  Meanwhile, the updating of training methods at the local universities and vocational training schools has been slow.  This seems to be one reason why a number of graduates from local educational establishments have not met the recruitment requirements of the local FDI businesses.

Currently, many local FDI businesses have to invest a lot of money training their newly-recruited employees.  Every year the TCIE Vietnam Company at the expanded Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, which specialises in assembling cars, sends some of its employees to Malaysia to train at the 2 automobile factories of the Tan Chong Motor Group (TCM).

Like TCIE Vietnam, the city’s Bac My An Tourism Company frequently provides their staff members with courses in professional skills and English in order to improve the quality of its hospitality services.