The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) released the Vietnam Employment Trends Report 2010 in Hanoi on Jan 24, offering the most up-to-date information available on the change of the local dynamic labor market.
This is the second in an annual series of reports prepared by the National Centre for Labor Market Forecast and Information, part of the MOLISA’s Bureau of Employment, with technical support coming from the ILO through the Labor Market Project – a European Union funded initiative.
Between 2007 and 2009, despite the global economic slowdown which had a significant effect on the labor market, the proportion of vulnerable employment decreased to 4.3% due to an increasing share of wage and salaried employment (2.9%) and own-account work (8.2%), the report said.
The report also showed that Vietnam’s labor force participation increased during the period. The increasing labor force participation rates for young men and women aged 15-19 years from 37.1% in 2007 to 43.8% in 2009 suggest that a significant number of teenagers are leaving the education system to seek work to support themselves and their families.
The most labor-incentive sector remains agriculture, forestry and fisheries with employment of nearly 23 million in 2008. However, there has been a structural shift of Vietnam’s labor market away from relatively low productivity, labor intensive agricultural jobs towards higher value-added, more technology and capital intensive industries and service sectors.
The report forecast that employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing is likely to decline and will maintain a projected level of 21.1 million by 2020.
Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard, director of the International Labor Organization Office in Vietnam, stressed the importance of labor market information and analysis, describing them as key factors in creating more sustainable jobs and helping investors and decision makers have a clearer picture of employment trends.
Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, Sean Doyle said that as one of Vietnam’s largest markets for its exports and one of its biggest sources of Foreign Direct Investment, the EU sees the efficiency of the labor market as a core element in the continuing economic development successfully in Vietnam. (News, Vietnamplus)
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