The southern province of Dong Nai is trying to restore and develop traditional jobs by providing vocational training courses for labourers.
The southern
The province was once well known for many traditional handicrafts, including pottery making, cast-iron moulding, stone carving, wooden products, weaving and brocade textiles. However, a recent decrease of workers at these traditional jobs has caused concern.
Dwindling industries
According to statistics from the Dong Nai’s Industry and Trade Department, since 2006, the pottery-making industry has lost 1,000 labourers out of a total of 4,300.
The Buu Long stone village, located in downtown
"Young people are not keen on stone carving like in the past. I have found many talented people but they just learned for a short time and moved to a higher income job," says Nguy Khac Phuoc, owner of the Nghia Hung stone carving company.
Phuoc also confirms that he has had to refuse some large orders because there are not enough workers.
"At present, the number of companies and craftsmen in the village has decrease by half compared with the past three years. By 2010, Bien Hoa City will move the stone carving enterprises to the outskirts, so I dare not say about the future of the job," says Le Thi Thu Tam, vice chairwoman of the Buu Long Ward.
Bien Hoa pottery manufacturers also worry about human resources. Ngo Quang Man, owner of a pottery enterprise at Buu Hoa ward, reveals that most of his workers are over 40 and there are few of them under 30.
"In the very near future, the pottery making industry will face a serious shortage of workers," says Nguyen Thi Nguyen, chairwoman of Thai Duong Co-operative.
Around 30 per cent of workers have left the Trong Nghia cast-iron moulding co-operative in Vinh Cuu District since the middle of 2007. Forty fine wood manufacturers in Trang Bom District have only been able to hire one-third of the labourers they need.
"Most workers and young people have come and worked at industrial and processing zones, which have mushroomed in the province," says Nguyen Van Cuong of Trang Bom District.
Reasons and solutions
Unstable income and hard work are known as two reasons for the declining workforce. A pottery worker is able to earn only around VND1.7 million (US$100) each month.
Furthermore, workers have to spend a lot of time to be skilled in traditional jobs. They need at least four months to make fine wooden products, one year for cast-iron moulding or pottery manufacturing and from three to five years for stone carving.
Meanwhile, jobs in industrial and processing zones do not require a long time to train and newcomers earn the same salary as a skilled worker in a traditional job. Therefore, fewer young people are interested in handicraft jobs.
Last year, the provincial industrial promotion centre co-operated with enterprises to provide vocational training for over 1,000 workers in fine wooden products and pottery. However, these projects are only in the first phase. Other support for enterprises, such as technology transfer and trade promotion, have not been implemented yet.
(Source: VNS)
