While Vietnamese overseas labourers returning to the country are always appreciated for their professional and foreign language skills, many people find it difficult to find suitable jobs. This causes a big waste of human resources.

Nguyen Hieu Dong, from central province of Ha Tinh’s Huong Khe District, said he was employed by several Vietnamese enterprises but he couldn’t apply the skills he had learned overseas after coming back to Vietnam last year.

Dong used to work as a welder in the shipbuilding industry, which requires skill and high technology, adding that the salary was so low.

Not only Dong, but many of his friends can’t find jobs relevant to the skills they learned from abroad. As a result, they want to leave for other countries to find jobs.

Nguyen Bich Ha, who lives in the northern province of Phu Tho’s Lam Thao District, is an example.

Ha has registered for a job in Japan despite the fact that she just returned home late last year.

She cited low wages and being over-qualified as her reasons to go abroad.

According to a survey by the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, most provinces and cities don’t have accurate numbers of overseas labourers returning home as well as consultations or support policies to help them find stable jobs. The workers have to find jobs or organise their businesses by themselves. Most of them do not develop professional and foreign language skills accumulated after a period working abroad.

Nguyen Lan Huong, former director of ILSSA, said companies just focused on policies to send labourers abroad. The companies paid little attention to policies that create favourable conditions for them to reintegrate into the domestic labour market and enable them to apply the skills they learned overseas, she said.

“The fact the Vietnam hasn’t taken advantage of overseas labourers is a waste because many foreign direct investment enterprises operating in the country have a great demand for this human resource," Huong said.

Katsuro Nagai, envoy of the Japanese embassy in Vietnam, said about 1,500 Japanese enterprises operating in the country were in need of skilled labourers.

The demand for highly skilled workers will rise in parallel with the number of Japanese enterprises in particular and foreign enterprises in general, which are predicted to increase in the future, Nagai said at a seminar held in Hanoi last week on how to effectively use human resources for the development of Vietnamese industry.

A survey conducted recently by the Japan International Cooperation Agency showed that up to 80 per cent of Japanese enterprises need skilled workers. In the meantime, about 20,000 Vietnamese trainees could not apply their skills and experience after coming home.

Nguyen Luong Trao, chairman of the Vietnam Labour Export Association, said the efficiency of placing high quality human resources and overseas workers would be promoted if there was a connection between the supply and demand of skilled workers.

To realise this, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB) is implementing a project to “build a database of overseas Vietnamese labourers.”

Once the database is complete, it would act as the basis for supplying human resources for businesses who were in need of qualified workers, according to a DOLAB representative.

The department would organise training on the matter for companies engaged in labourer export and the local departments of labour, invalids and social affairs in the second quarter of this year, the representative said.

Every year, Vietnam sends around 100,000 labourers abroad. Oversea labourers help in poverty reduction by bringing in valuable incomes for many households.

VNS