Farmers in Lam Dong’s coffee-growing areas are entering the peak harvest season with good weather and a strong crop. Yet their excitement is overshadowed by a severe shortage of harvest labor.
On the afternoon of November 5, 2011, a passenger coach from Soc Trang arrived in Di Linh town carrying about 20 seasonal workers. As soon as the bus stopped, farmers scrambled to hire them. Mr. B.V.S from Ward 10 managed to secure four workers, but had to pay the bus owner 2.4 million VND—600 thousand per person—for transport and a middleman’s fee. He was happy just to have workers, but the next morning he was shocked to find that all four had climbed the fence and disappeared overnight. When he complained, the bus owner shrugged: “I only bring workers here and collect the fare. Managing them isn’t my job.”
Similar stories abound. In Tan Chau commune, Mr. Minh said it’s not just the cost of paying their travel from the Mekong Delta that worries him. “I’m afraid that after paying the bus fare, the workers will simply run off. Last year a group of 15 disappeared in the middle of the night before working a single day, costing me millions in transport and broker fees.”
Lam Dong province has about 130,000 ha of coffee, concentrated in districts such as Di Linh, Lam Ha, Duc Trong, Bao Lam and Bao Loc. Farmers estimate each hectare requires at least two harvest workers. Di Linh alone, with over 40,000 ha, needs more than 30,000 outside laborers each season. Without them, many coffee cherries would fall before they could be picked.
The shortage has fueled a chaotic, informal “labor market.” Alongside genuine seasonal workers, opportunists have formed networks that exploit both farmers and laborers. Scams like those described above are common, and petty theft also rises. At busy junctions in Di Linh, Tan Chau, Dinh Lac, Lien Dam, Dinh Trang Hoa and Hoa Ninh, groups of workers from all over the country arrive by bus, competing for jobs. With demand so high, daily wages have climbed to 120–130 thousand VND or 2.5–3 million VND per month (with meals). Even at these rates, many farmers still cannot find enough pickers.
On a mid-November day in 2011, at Di Linh town’s central park crossroads, dozens of workers from Ninh Thuan shook their heads: “Already hired!” Nearby, local farmers like Mr. Quyen (Ward 8), Mr. Can (Ward 6) and Mr. Long (Tan Chau) were still searching. “These days it’s very hard to find pickers,” Mr. Quyen said. “Wages are high and there simply aren’t as many workers as in previous years.”
As happens every harvest, motorcycle taxis and long-distance bus drivers double as labor brokers, collecting a few hundred thousand dong in commission for each worker found. Farmers grudgingly accept these extra costs. But even with soaring wages and broker fees, the shortage persists—just as the critical peak of the coffee harvest approaches.