KUALA LUMPUR - Vietnam’s Nghe An Province is facing difficulties in securing local workers despite growing labor demand driven by foreign direct investment (FDI),  according to a local business magazine.

While thousands of new jobs have been created as foreign-invested companies expand into the central province, many young workers continue to leave for major cities or overseas employment.

Provincial authorities have stepped up measures to retain workers in the local labor market.

In early 2026, the Management Board of the Nghe An Southeast Economic Zone organized the first job fair of the year in cooperation with related agencies.

More than 20 companies participated in the event and plan to recruit tens of thousands of workers. Several thousand job seekers attended the fair, submitting more than 3,000 applications.

The current situation, where companies actively search for workers, contrasts sharply with the past when jobs were scarce and labor supply was abundant.

Many of the available positions include high-income roles for skilled workers, reflecting the province’s recent efforts to attract investment.

In 2022, Nghe An recorded foreign direct investment inflows of about USD 1 billion for the first time. The province has since continued to rank among the top 10 localities in Vietnam for FDI attraction.

However, long-standing job shortages in the past have led many young people to seek work elsewhere, a trend that has become deeply entrenched.

Although the province has about 1.6 million people of working age, many young workers leave for major cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for more industrialized provinces, or for jobs overseas.

This trend continues today, and companies sometimes struggle to recruit workers locally even after building factories in the province.

Overseas employment is particularly common. More than 20,000 workers from Nghe An go abroad for work each year, making the province one of the top sources of overseas labor in Vietnam.

Nationwide data from the Department of Overseas Labor under the Ministry of Home Affairs show that more than 11,000 Vietnamese workers left the country for overseas jobs in July alone.

In the first seven months of 2025, the total number of overseas workers reached 85,781, including 28,991 women.

Japan was the largest destination with 39,558 workers, followed by Taiwan with 32,471 and South Korea with 7,340. Vietnamese workers are also sent to other markets such as China, Singapore, Romania, and Hungary.

In terms of recruitment numbers, Japan ranked first with 4,318 workers, followed by Taiwan with 4,265 and South Korea with 1,690.

Vietnamese overseas workers are estimated to send about USD 5 billion in remittances back to their home country each year.