FOREIGN LABOR IN VIETNAM： REALITY AND PROSPECTS

Nguyen Thi Kim Chi Tran Hoa Phuong

Reasons to hiring foreign workers

Aimed at integrating into the world economy， regulating the market economy under socialist orientation， the State issued Law on Investment 1987 which allowed FDI enterprises to hire foreigners for jobs requiring high technology.

Situation of foreign workers in Vietnam

According to the Ministry of Labor， Invalids and Social Affairs （MoLISA） of Vietnam， from 2004 to 2015， the number of foreign labor in Vietnam has increased from 12，600 to more than 83，500[1]， most of them are skilled workers and have work permit.

Foreign labors in Vietnam come from about 110 countries， but mostly come from Asia. Among them， Chinese labor accounts for the largest； then South Koreans， Taiwanese and Japanese. [2] They work in some large cities and provinces， such as Ho Chi Minh City， Binh Duong， Ha Tinh， Hanoi， Dong Nai， etc. [3]

The increasing number of foreign workers in Vietnam requires the improvement of the legal system to ensure the rights of migrant workers， especially social security. Therefore， MoLISA has drafted a decree which proposed requiring foreign workers to take part in all five social insurance programmes， three of which， namely sickness， maternity and occupational disease would become compulsory since January 1， 2018； and the rest， retirement and survivorship， would be in 2020 or 2022.

According to the 2016 annual HSBCs Expat Explorer survey， 35% expats in Vietnam agree that the country is a good place to progress their careers. The top three reasons they choose to move to Vietnam are for a new challenge （46%）， being sent by an employer （26%） and to improve their quality of life （24%）. Expats in Vietnam could earn US$103，000 annually on average， which is above the global level and a quarter less than Singapore's and slightly lower than Malaysia （US$104，000） across ASEAN. [4]

Prospects

There has been a major step in changing thinking， awareness about foreigners working in Vietnam. On the basis of the aforementioned findings， we mention some prospects as

following：

Firtsly， the number of foreigners working in Vietnam continue to raise in the future in terms of quantity and quality.

Secondly， the laws related to foreign workers in Vietnam will be revised， amended to ensure their equality and welfare.

Thirdly， the demand for foreign workers in Vietnam will increase in the time to come， especially those jobs that Vietnamese workers can not afford.

References：

[1] https：//vietnamnews.vn/society/378649/number-of-foreign-workers-in-viet-nam-on-the-rise.html#XG6woBSC1SmOrciY.97.

[2] http：//ndh.vn/hon-30-lao-dong-nuoc-ngoai-o-viet-nam-co-quoc-tich-trung-quoc-201706190944364p4c145.news.

[3] https：//vietnamnews.vn/society/378649/number-of-foreign-workers-in-viet-nam-on-the-rise.html#XG6woBSC1SmOrciY.97.

[4] https：//english.thesaigontimes.vn/49906/hsbc-expats-can-earn-us$103000-annually-in-vietnam.html.

About the authors：

1.Nguyen Thi Kim Chi ：Senior Lecturer， University of Economics and Businesses， Vietnam National University.

2. Tran Hoa Phuong： Lecturer， Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics， Vietnam.