Labour report predicts rise in employment

The second Viet Nam Labour Market update, a quarterly bulletin released yesterday, predicted increasing demand for recruitment in provinces with many industrial and processing zones.

The bulletin forecast demand for about 600,000 new recruits and about 100,000 replacements. The highest demand was expected in processing and manufacturing industries (288,000 people), followed by service activities (125,000), construction (50,000), transportation and storage (12,000) and expertise, science and technology (7,000).

Total employment in the first quarter of 2014 was 52.53 million people, an increase of 620,000 compared to the same period last year, according to the bulletin. However, 25,000 fewer people were employed in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2013.


The reason for the low unemployment rate was that in the first quarter, the employment growth rate was 1.2 per cent, higher than the labour force growth rate (1.1 per cent).

However, General Statistics Office (GSO) deputy director Nguyen Van Lieu said that many challenges remained.

"Despite the increase in labourer income and job opportunities, many jobs are still unproductive, risky or unhygienic, and this should be addressed," said Lieu.

The number of skilled workers educated via a formal training system dropped from 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 to 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, added Lieu.

MoLISA statistics show that the labour force (defined as the economically active population aged 15 years and above) is currently 53.6 million, a decline of 118,000 people compared to the fourth quarter of 2013 but an increase of 592,000 people in comparison with the same period last year.

Conducted by MoLISA and the GSO with support from the International Labour Organisation, the bulletin aimed to analyse new trends in the labour market in order to improve labour policy-making.