Factory Work

Quite expectedly, there was a stark contrast between the state own factory and the foreign-owned Yamaha factory with the latter being of a much better quality. While one would assume that a foreign company would establish a factory in Vietnam for the benefits of minimal health and safety regulations that was certainly not the case in the Yamaha factories. The working conditions were quite exceptional with there being lots of space and a nice clean environment. This was in comparison to the Vinamex factory where the environment was very stress-inducing and at times unbearable. While the machines pound away at your ear drums, the heat and smell stifles you and its hard to imagine ever working in such space. This was in contrast to the Yamaha factory where the floors had been waxed so much you felt as though you would simply fall. Further, I noticed that brooms and sweep pans were always within reach and the temperature was comfortable. To be fair, the Yamaha factory seem to have regular visits as evident by the benches situated throughout the factory as though they were randomly and strategically placed. Also accompanying these benches were Japanese writing which could indicate that either it was tourist attraction or that Japanese executives frequented the place often. The gender distribution in terms of employees were also different with the car factories seeming to have more males workers whereas the other factory the women heavily outnumbered the men especially in the stitching portion of the factory. Nevertheless there were similarities in the factories.