After Tet, Vietnam's Factories Don't Fear Slow Starts. They Fear Workers Not Coming Back.

Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. Vietnam's nine-day Tet holiday is officially over, and the country returns to work.

In offices, colleagues exchange red envelopes and good wishes. The mood is relaxed. But for factories and manufacturers, the first day back feels very different. Bosses are not watching ceremonies. They are staring at attendance sheets, counting how many workers actually showed up.

Every Year After Tet, a Wave of Workers Disappears

The post-Tet resignation wave is an annual ritual in Vietnam.

Some workers simply do not come back after the holiday. No notice, no goodbye. Others use the break to line up a new job back home and switch employers the moment work resumes. Still others go home for Tet, decide the industrial zone is too far and life there too hard, and just stay put.

This is not anecdotal. Vietnam's industrial zones rely heavily on migrant workers from other provinces. Factories in HCMC, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai are staffed largely by workers from central and northern provinces. Tet is the one time of year they get to spend extended time at home, and the one time they reconsider whether to keep coming back.

How Big Is the Gap This Year

According to Nguoi Lao Dong, HCMC alone needs roughly 55,000 workers in the first post-Tet wave, concentrated in manufacturing, machinery, logistics, e-commerce, and food services.

Data from the HCMC Employment Service Center shows that in 2025, employers registered over 310,000 job openings citywide, but only about 190,000 job seekers were available. That is a gap of over 120,000. The structural mismatch has not improved in 2026.

The south is not the only region short on workers. Binh Duong's industrial zones estimate they need 30,000 to 38,000 workers over the next six months, 75% of them production-line workers. Binh Phuoc province has 33 companies that registered post-Tet hiring, posting nearly 4,500 openings.

The north is no different. Bac Ninh province may need up to 180,000 workers this year. Pegatron's Hai Phong plant alone needs 5,000 hires in Q1.

Why Workers Don't Stay

The shortage is not just about "not wanting to come back after the holiday." Several structural factors are at play.

First, wage competition is fierce. Base salaries across provincial industrial zones are similar, so switching jobs is easy. Factory A raises its base by a few hundred thousand dong, and Factory B next door immediately offers more. Workers leave. This bidding war is especially visible in garment and electronics plants in Bac Giang and Binh Duong.

Second, young workers do not want factory jobs. Like Taiwan, Vietnam's younger generation increasingly avoids production-line work. Gig delivery, e-commerce, livestream selling — the income may not be higher, but the schedule is flexible. This keeps manufacturing's labor pipeline structurally thin.

Third, provinces are building their own industrial zones. Workers from central and northern Vietnam used to have no choice but to migrate south. Now there are industrial zones near their hometowns. Pay is slightly lower, but so is the cost of living, and home is close. Fewer people are willing to migrate long distances.

How Factories Fight for Workers

Companies use every tool available to retain staff.

The most common is the "full attendance bonus" (thuong chuyen can): come back on time after Tet and receive extra pay.

In Bac Giang's garment factories, the recruitment push is concrete. Some factories offer experienced workers a monthly salary of at least VND 8.5 million, with VND 7 million guaranteed even for those with no experience. On top of that, signing bonuses range from VND 3 to 8 million, and permanent employees may receive company shares. Other factories use training incentives, offering up to VND 8 million if new hires pass a skills test within 15 days.

Beyond cash, many factories arrange buses to pick up workers from their home provinces or subsidize travel costs. Binh Phuoc's return-to-work rate this year was about 95%, a decent number, but even that missing 5% is enough to disrupt production lines.

What This Means for Foreign Manufacturers

This issue is especially critical for Taiwanese manufacturers operating in Vietnam.

Textiles, footwear, and electronics assembly plants with Taiwanese investment are among the most labor-dependent. If production lines cannot start and shipments are delayed after Tet, the impact ripples through the entire supply chain.

A few practical points:

Finalize retention plans before Tet. The amounts and conditions for attendance bonuses and return-to-work bonuses must be communicated to workers before the holiday, not announced after they come back.

Do not rush to full production in the first week back. Even if workers return, efficiency in the first few days is typically low. Build buffer time into schedules.

Over the long term, competing on wages will only get more expensive. Automation upgrades and reducing dependence on large volumes of unskilled labor are challenges every manufacturer will eventually have to face.