As trade war rages, Chinese firms in ‘malignant’ battle for talent and territory in Vietnam
- As firms seek alternatives to China to avoid increased tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Southeast Asian nation is feeling the pressure
- One Chinese businessman says: ‘You fill a job with three people in China, [in Vietnam] you probably have to recruit five’
In the small province of Binh Duong in southern Vietnam, trucks crowd a small road leading to the port from sunrise to sunset, with a few cars and motorbikes honking their horns impatiently among them.
During the morning and evening rush hours, traffic jams can last for more than an hour, as bottlenecks of trucks carry cargo to and from Cat Lai Port, the biggest and busiest container terminal in Vietnam.
On one hand, booming investment in Binh Duong has boosted the revenue of Chinese businessman Weng Caibing’s construction company by 50 per cent over recent years. But now he has a new headache: it is becoming increasingly tougher to find workers, especially skilled Chinese-Vietnamese translators.
Four years ago, all available jobs would be filled within two days of Weng posting the recruitment notice on the company gate. Now, it is hard for Weng to find talent, even if he pays more than 2,000 yuan (US$290) per month for job advertisements.