Foreign workers in Vietnam: seen from a different angle

The recent media coverage of foreigners working illegally in Vietnam has left an open question about the management and supervision capacity of authorized agencies in this field.

Anyway, this issue should be considered in an objective way.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimates that there are about 74,000 foreign workers in Vietnam, but the number has increased by nearly 2,000 a month since May. However, with more than 1,000 unlicensed workers just discovered at a project in Ca Mau province, the estimated figure is far from accurate.

It is crucial to conduct a general survey into the current situation to analyse its negative effects.

First, foreign workers, especially those who do simple work, will take the employment chances of Vietnamese labourers while unemployment remains a heavy burden on the government and society.

Second, this may create an uncontrollable wave of illegal immigration and settlement and lead to social, cultural and even security problems.

Fully aware of the need to protect the domestic labour market, the government already issued Decrees No. 34/2008/ND-CP and 46/2011/ND-CP on the employment of foreign workers in Vietnam.

Accordingly, organisations and businesses which want to employ foreign workers must comply with strict regulations and tight procedures. The responsibilities of the police and judicial forces, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs are also clarified. If they all did the job with a full sense of responsibility, there would be no illegal foreign workers setting foot in Vietnam.

On the other hand, we should not have an extreme view on the issue of foreign workers in Vietnam. In the context of global integration, especially when Vietnam, as a member of the World Trade Organisation, is joining efforts with other ASEAN member countries to build a common political, economic, and social community, it is necessary to remove barriers and step towards opening the labour market. Vietnam currently enjoys the benefit of sending tens of thousands of labourers to work abroad under the separate agreements between the Vietnamese government and other countries.

In addition, the country is still in urgent need of skilled workers from abroad. As a matter of fact, many foreigners who hold manager or other senior positions in international financial, banking, tourism, and information technology organisations and businesses have contributed greatly to Vietnam’s economic growth and integration. This, in part, reveals the weakness of the educational and training sector in providing human resources for the economy.

Therefore, any policy concerning foreign workers should be integrated into the national strategy on human resources development and a mechanism should be put in place to attract first-rate executives from abroad to help boost the country’s process of modernization and industrialization and also to prevent unskilled and low-qualified workers from entering the domestic market. – VOV

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