The Vard Braila shipyard, the biggest employer in the Eastern Romania city, has brought 70 workers from Vietnam and plans to bring another 60 to cover its workforce deficit.

The company said it hasn’t been able to find enough Romanian workers to cover its needs, according to the shipyard’s manager Alina Puia, local Hotnews.ro reported.

The Braila shipyard, which is part of Norwegian group Vard, a subsidiary of Italian group Fincatieri, brought the foreign workers from a shipyard the group has in Vietnam. The group’s other shipyard in Romania, located in Tulcea, also brought about 300 workers from Vietnam last year.

“It’s very difficult to find workforce, although we have been trying for over a year and we have ads everywhere,” said Alina Puia.

“Work is hard here and now people are looking for better paid and easier jobs,” she added.

The Vard shipyards in Braila and Tulcea can produce about any type of vessel and have their capacities covered with orders until 2025, according to Mauro Leboffe, the executive who coordinates the operations of the two shipyards. The orders include cruise ships, electrical ferries, polar expedition ships, fishing vessels, offshore operations vessels and coast patrol vessels.

Foreign investors: Romania, no longer competitive on workforce availability

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Vard.com)