VietNamNet Bridge - While Vietnamese workers have to struggle hard for jobs in Vietnam, the home market is expected to attract many candidates from Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Vietnam is an attractive labor market

Robert Tran, CEO of Robenny, a Canadian consultancy firm, said the firm has many records of many Cambodian senior personnel who want to look for jobs in Vietnam. Most of the candidates have high education levels and can speak English and Vietnamese well.

“The job market in Vietnam is 10 times larger than in Cambodia,” Tran explained.

Some businesses in Vietnam confirmed that they are considering worker supply from neighboring countries, especially the Philippines. Filipino workers are believed to work hard, have high discipline and be friendly.

The director of a joint stock company said some Filipinos now work for his company. Though they are not paid better than Vietnamese, they have higher productivity.

“The job market in Vietnam is 10 times larger than in Cambodia,” Robert Tran, CEO of Robenny

Nguyen Thi Viet Thanh, managing director of Anphabe, a human resource service provider, said with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, Vietnam will have to receive workers from member countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.

In the immediate time, from January 1, 2016, accountants, architects, doctors, dental surgeons, engineers, nurses, carriers and tourism workers will be able to travel freely among ASEAN countries.

Tieu Yen Trinh, managing director of Talentnet, warned that with AEC Vietnamese workers will have to compete fiercely with workers from the region.

Tieu suggested building a national brand for Vietnam’s human resources which can show the advantages of Vietnam. 

Businesses, for example, would think of Filipinos when they want the workers in the service sector. Someone would try to find physicians from Singapore when he needs healthcare services. And good accountants can be found from Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese senior workers, though highly appreciated as professionals, are believed to have disadvantages in foreign language skills.

A labor expert pointed out that Vietnamese workers’ English skills are still low, while very few people can speak ASEAN languages. While Vietnamese workers still have not prepared psychologically for moving to other ASEAN countries, the workers from other ASEAN countries don’t find it a problem.

Tran from Robenny Group noted that Vietnamese workers have not been well protected against regional workers. He said the problem is that Vietnam does not apply the language defence law; therefore, any foreign workers can apply for jobs in Vietnam, putting Vietnamese workers at a high risk of losing jobs.

Meanwhile, the law is applied in many countries in an effort to protect local workers. Candidates who want to work in Thailand have to speak the Thai language, while those who want to work in Singapore have to speak English well.

Dat Viet