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Overseas labor dispatch is more selective in terms of qualifications and language capability. Photo: Illustration (VNA)

Export nearly 60,000 workers

According to the first 5-month report of the Department of Overseas Labor Management (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs), in the first five months of 2023, the total number of export employees Vietnam under contract was 59,645 people, reaching 54.2% of the plan (the year target set was 110,000 workers under contract), 1.9 times higher than the same period last year (this number in the first five months of 2022 was 31,229). This figure shows a positive sign from the overseas employment sector.

Regarding the market, Japan maintains the top with 28,513 Vietnamese workers, followed by Taiwan (China) with 26,201 employees, Korea with 1,210 employees, and China with 729 employees.

Nguyen Gia Liem, Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labor, assessed that the activities of sending workers to work abroad recovered positively after the Covid-19 pandemic was under control, and countries gradually recovered the reception of foreign workers. Traditional markets such as Japan, Taiwan (China), and Korea still highly appreciate Vietnamese workers for their agility, hard work, and solid skills, so when receiving workers again after the Covid-19 pandemic, they still give a certain priority to Vietnamese workers.

Assessing the achievement of labor export in recent years, according to Minister of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, sending Vietnamese people to work abroad is a solution to create jobs, increase income, as well as facilitate young people who require access to technology and new working styles.

In 2022, Vietnam sent about 142,000 workers abroad, mainly in markets such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan, recently, six countries in developed countries in the European area are piloting.

In which, in terms of income, there are only three high-income countries such as Germany (2,500 Euro), South Korea (1,800 USD), Japan (1,500 USD), especially, the recent down exchange rate of Yen in the Japanese market has also affected the income of workers, while other countries have an average income of only 600-700 USD.

According to the Minister, in general, despite advantages in good skills and work performance, Vietnamese workers are still limited in foreign language skills and some lack discipline (fighting, and violating the law).

Therefore, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs will build a database to manage outgoing and returning laborers. With the motto of improving the capacity of enforcement units, the Ministry will also continue to negotiate to select partners, and destination markets, strictly handle cases of labor fraud, and profiteering from the employee export policy.

“Our country is also in need of labor, so we do not send workers abroad to work at all costs if we do not have a good environment and high income," Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized.

High quality market focus

According to statistics, Vietnamese workers are currently present in more than 40 countries and territories and work in about 30 different industries and occupations, but most of them are doing common jobs that do not require professional qualifications.

The results of the labor and employment survey in 2021 also showed that the majority of export workers were mainly young people. The total number of Vietnamese workers working abroad from 2018 to 2021 was more than 250,000 people, of which the highest education level of upper secondary school comprised over 47%, while lower secondary school level was 23%.

Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labor Management Nguyen Gia Liem acknowledged that, at present, due to the requirements of science and technology development parallel with tightened requirements in skilled foreign workers. Therefore, improving the quality of labor resources needs more attention, requiring the participation and efforts of many sides, the State, enterprises and the workers themselves. This is not a new requirement but has been mentioned many times earlier. However, if countries mainly received unskilled workers in the past, there is a great demand for qualified workers and foreign languages.

In 2023, it is estimated that 90% of export workers will be concentrated in the Northeast Asian market, which is also a long-term, safe, stable income market and is favored by Vietnamese workers.

However, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs still aims to expand high-quality markets that require higher skills to gradually enhance the labor force quality. Therefore, the labor industry is currently piloting dispatching workers under contracts in some developed countries such as six countries in the European region which promises many positives. Many new potential labor export markets have been opened such as Australia, New Zealand, Federal Republic of Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, South Africa, and Canada.

‘In order to improve the quality of export labor resources, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has established a working group to support vocational education institutions in connecting with recruitment enterprises as well as coordinate with employment service centers to increase the quality of labor resources to meet demand. At the same time, the Department of Overseas Labor also noted that businesses sending workers to work abroad focus on training to enhance labor qualifications, especially foreign languages and professional skills”, Mr. Nguyen Gia Liem said.