On September 18, 2023, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities organized a discussion to announce the Country Report on Vietnam with the topic "The labor market in Vietnam" (No. 6/2023) organized in cooperation with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (Germany).

The Country Report attracts research results from many scientists and policymakers

Speaking at the opening of the discussion, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dao Thanh Truong - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, said that this is the sixth Country Report on Vietnam, following previous reports on the environment, population aging, digitalization, war legacies, female workers... The report was conducted by tripartite cooperation between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, Justus Liebig Giessen University (Germany) and Hanns Seidel Organization (Germany) in Vietnam. Continuing the success of previous reports, publication No. 6 of 2023 had the participation and contributions of leading scientists in this field from prestigious domestic and foreign units such as the Institute of Science and Technology. University of Labor and Social Affairs (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs); University of Law (VNU); Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Cologne University (Germany), Justus Liebig Giessen University (Germany), Diplomatic Academy... and units of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dao Thanh Truong wished to continue to receive cooperation from scientists to be able to build the Country Report into the brand of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, clearly demonstrating the position and role of VNU-USSH as a research university and a prestigious policy consulting agency across the country.

Mr. Michael Siegner - Chief Representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation Vietnam said that the Country Report No. 6 of 2023 once again affirmed the efforts of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in collaborating with partners in the academic world and the government. For more than 15 years, HSF has collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders with the goal of providing policy recommendations to strengthen social inclusion and well-being in Vietnam.

Overall picture of glaring issues in Vietnam's labor market

By providing annual independent information on the political, economic, and social issues of a country in transition, the Country Report received valuable research from scientists, scholars, experts, and policymakers.
Along with Vietnam's innovation process over the past 40 years, Vietnam is increasingly aware that labor is a precious capital and an important driving force for the country's impressive socio-economic development. With historical legacies that both follow the general context and have unique characteristics, one of the basic issues in the transition from a centrally planned economy to a socially oriented market economy in Vietnam is the formation of a labor market based on supply and demand with state management and regulation. Along with the formation and development of the labor market, issues related to human resource quality, labor productivity and labor relations management are also raised, requiring a comprehensive assessment, and from there, there are appropriate solutions to promote this valuable resource.

According to Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dao Thanh Truong, the Country Report with the topic "Labor Market in Vietnam" is VNU-USSH's answer to the above issues as one of the leading research units in the field of social sciences and humanities.

The first part of the publication provides basic information about the labor market in Vietnam (author Dang Hoang Linh) and introduces the domestic and international legal framework (author Ngo Minh Huong).
The second part discusses in more detail the formal (author Le Thi Thanh Ha) and informal (author Trinh Thu Nga) domestic labor markets, employment in rural areas, labor migration to cities and industrial centers (author Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai) and about women as well as the opportunities and difficulties in the labor industry (authors Vu Thi Minh Thang and Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang).
The third part focuses on the country's new challenges, including necessary reforms in vocational education and enterprise training (author Phung Le Khanh) and the need to innovate education at the country’s universities (author Lai Quoc Khanh).

Two other articles examine the balance between labor migration, brain drain, business startups of Vietnamese returning home, and the important role of remittances from foreign workers (author Nguyen Tuan Anh) with the role and awareness of the foreigners workforce in Vietnam (Detlef Briesen).
The fourth part of the publication provides more general information (authors Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang and Luu Thi Thuy Huong) on the labor market in Vietnam related to labor law, policy and research. In addition, author Luong Thi Han has summarized in her article (concepts and terminology) the most important terms and offers some explanations.

Many policy implications in the field of labor in Vietnam

At the seminar, scientists discussed and proposed many policy implications for labor market development in Vietnam.

According to Dr. Trinh Thu Nga, the Institute of Labor Sciences and Social Affairs is developing comprehensive recommendations to improve the situation of informal workers in Vietnam. At the seminar, Dr. Trinh Thu Nga proposed a number of important recommendations such as strengthening propaganda, dissemination, raising awareness as well as the importance of formalizing informal employment, and labor laws and promoting equality gender in labor and employment; increasing access to decent employment for both men and women in informal employment, especially female workers; strengthen social security for informal workers. To overcome the disadvantage and reduce the vulnerability of workers in the informal sector, the Government needs to have specific policies and support solutions to expand protection to this group of workers and encourage them in socio-economic development.

According to Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Hoang Linh - Dean of the Department of International Economics, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Government has introduced a number of measures to restructure the labor market to serve national economic development in an attempt to solve these problems.
To meet market needs, vocational education focuses on technical training and vocational training. Since 2018, the number of colleges, universities and vocational training universities in Vietnam has increased sharply. In addition, the Government has issued new decisions related to the labor market for construction and at the same time developing labor market factors, supporting effective mobilization and allocation of resources. This will allow Vietnam's workforce to share and contribute equally to the market in each socio-economic region. Last but not least, the Government's approach to achieving sustainable development is to increase the retirement age starting in 2022 to deal with the problem of population aging.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Le Thi Thanh Ha - Institute of Philosophy, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics recommends that (1) there should be a policy to improve the quality of labor in the official sector, restructure labor in accordance with the economic structure; (2) amend salary policies, remuneration policies and use of talents in the official sector according to the Party's guiding viewpoints.
The seminar also received high appreciation from scientists and policymakers for the scientific content of the research results as well as valuable policy implications, contributing to its success.  Prof.Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh - Chair of the conference - summarized the speakers' sharing and thanked the comments and discussions, emphasizing the selection of appropriate topics and research in the current context. On behalf of the author group, Dr. Detlef shared: “The goal of this report is not to offer an immediate solution to Vietnam's labor market problems but to create a basis for more in-depth discussions on this topic".