Promoting Vietnamese labor resources to work abroad

According to statistics from businesses sending Vietnamese workers abroad, in the first quarter of this year, the country sent 35,933 people to work abroad; of which, Japan, Taiwan (China), South Korea and some European countries continue to be major labor export markets, with many Vietnamese workers going to work.

These figures also show that the policy of sending workers to work abroad not only creates jobs for people but also contributes to the goal of promoting socio-economic development...

Impressive numbers

Thien Loc - a purely agricultural commune of Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province, has a population of more than 7,500 people. Currently, 1,367 people in the commune are working abroad, mainly in markets such as Germany, France, Czech Republic, Korea, and Japan. In addition to Thien Loc commune, many localities in Ha Tinh also have a large number of people working abroad.

Over the past 10 years, Ha Tinh has had 80,557 workers working abroad under contract, an average of over 7,500 people/year. In 2023 alone, Ha Tinh has had more than 12,000 people working abroad in countries and territories, mainly in traditional labor markets such as Taiwan (China), Japan, and South Korea.

According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ha Tinh province, on average, each year, the amount of money that overseas workers are paid according to their contracts is from 6,800 to 7,000 billion VND. Of which, the amount of foreign currency sent back to the country is over 4,000 billion VND, making an important contribution to promoting economic development, establishing enterprises and cooperatives, supporting investment in poverty reduction programs, building new rural areas and implementing social security policies in the province.

In the coming time, Ha Tinh strives to send about 8,000 workers to work abroad each year. In addition to traditional markets, it will expand its market to countries such as Germany, Russia, Australia, Israel and some other European countries.

In Thai Binh province, the sending of local workers to work abroad has been promoted in recent years, showing clear socio-economic effects. Every year, foreign currency sent to the province through the commercial banking system is about 83 million USD, equivalent to 1,992 billion VND.

Recently, Thai Binh has piloted sending workers to work seasonally in Korea according to Resolution No. 59/NQ-CP of the Government and Official Letter No. 2188/LĐTBXH-QLLĐNN of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Three districts including Quynh Phu, Vu Thu, Kien Xuong of this province have sent 105 workers to work seasonally in Korea.

Some exemplary workers who meet the prescribed standards are continued to have their labor contracts signed by Korean business owners. This shows that the image and quality of Vietnamese workers in general and Thai Binh workers in particular are gradually improving, creating trust for foreign business owners.

Sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad for many years has been the correct policy of the Party and the State. Priority is given to sending workers to work in a number of potential markets in safe, suitable and high-income occupations for workers; priority is given to sending workers in disadvantaged areas and social policy beneficiaries to work in these markets.

At the same time, stabilize and maintain existing markets, develop and expand high-income markets that are suitable for the qualifications and skills of Vietnamese workers. In 2023 alone, Vietnam sent more than 159,000 workers to work abroad under contracts, exceeding the annual plan by 33.3%. This is the highest number of workers working abroad in over 10 years.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has also promoted sending workers to work abroad under non-profit programs and spread information to many people and workers, including the poor in especially difficult communes. At the same time, it has promoted negotiations to expand occupations and labor markets with partners from Korea, Germany, and Australia to expand the market for the coming years...

This year, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs aims to send 125,000 workers to work abroad under contracts, focusing on key, traditional markets such as Japan, Taiwan (China) and South Korea. Notably, the continued increase in demand for foreign human resources in South Korea, Japan and Germany are favorable factors, creating the premise for implementing programs this year and the following years.

As shared by Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung at the recent National Assembly session: according to the spirit of the Law on sending Vietnamese workers abroad, on average, there are about 120,000 to 143,000 Vietnamese people working abroad each year. This overseas labor force brings an average of 3.5-4 billion USD in benefits to the country each year.

Strengthening labor management

According to the Department of Overseas Labor Management under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, through the data reported by enterprises, the total number of Vietnamese workers working abroad in March was 12,738. In the first quarter of this year, there were 35,933 workers working abroad under contracts. Of which, Japan and Taiwan (China) continue to be the main markets receiving Vietnamese workers.

Besides the two major markets above, Vietnamese workers also go to work in Korea, China, Singapore, Romania, Thailand, Macao (China), Saudi Arabia, Hungary and other markets... Although the results are positive, there are many problems with Vietnamese workers working abroad, including contract violations (absconding) and illegal residence in countries and territories such as Korea, Taiwan (China), and Japan.

The purpose of runaway workers and illegal residents is to stay abroad to work longer and earn higher incomes than working under contracts. In response to this situation, in 2023, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs had to issue a notice to temporarily suspend the recruitment of workers to work in Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS) for the first phase of 2023 for 8 districts, towns and cities of 4 provinces, because it still could not reduce the rate of workers whose contracts expired and did not return home.

In Romania, where nearly 11,000 Vietnamese workers are working, with stable incomes and considered a key, potential market, with open visa procedures, there is a need to receive many foreign workers. However, recently, there has been a situation where workers leave their contracts to work outside or listen to bad people who lure and entice them to illegally migrate to other countries..., negatively affecting the image of Vietnamese workers working here.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs issued a document requesting businesses to seriously rectify this situation. One of the requirements for businesses sending Vietnamese workers to work in Romania is to provide orientation and education to workers about the risks of breaking their contracts to work abroad and the responsibility to comply with the laws of the host country.

In particular, businesses should review the list of runaway workers by hometown to identify localities with many workers abandoning their contracts and fleeing to third countries in order to have appropriate selection plans for the next recruitment rounds.

Recently, the Government issued a Plan to implement Directive No. 20-CT/TW of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad in the new situation.

This plan not only builds a strategy to send Vietnamese workers to work abroad, but also focuses on solutions to raise workers' awareness of law compliance to prevent and limit the situation of workers going to work abroad violating the law and residing illegally; strengthen the mechanism for timely and effective coordination of information on issues arising from workers going to work abroad.