The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is drawing up a scheme to export high-skilled labor to choosy markets.

Young Vietnamese people search for job vacancies at a job fair in HCMC 

The ministry has assigned the Overseas Labor Management Department and other relevant agencies to formulate the labor export plan in 2017-2020 for the Government’s consideration.

In particular, well-trained health workers could be sent to Japan and Germany for guest work. Those specializing in information technology (IT), electronics, telecom, biology and agriculture will be sent to Japan. Mechanical engineers can land a job in South Korea, or some European and Middle Eastern countries.

The ministry is also finding new markets for Vietnamese labor such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Israel.

There will be plenty of opportunities for professionals to find a job in selective markets like Japan this year, said Pham Viet Huong, the department’s deputy director.

In end-2016, Japan passed a law opening a new window for foreigners to come for guest work. Vietnam reached an agreement with Germany last year on recruitment and training of nurses for hospitals in the European nation.

Pham Do Nhat Tan, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS), said a lot of nurses and other health workers went abroad for guest work last year while there were few in other sectors. A small number of IT engineers went to Singapore.

Those wishing to work abroad, Huong said, must have good health, and essential skills such as foreign language and expertise. Labor export enterprises should also invest more in training facilities and meet stringent requirements of labor importing markets.

The biggest challenge faced by Vietnamese workers is the proficiency of foreign languages. A good command of a foreign language is of great help, according to Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, director of the International Manpower Training and Supply Center.

Tan noted jobseekers would need at least six months to learn a foreign language and get used to foreign working styles and culture.

The department said more than 126,000 Vietnamese were sent overseas for guest work last year, 26% higher than the 2016 estimate and up 9% year-on-year. Taiwan, the biggest importer of Vietnamese labor, took on 68,000 workers, followed by Japan with nearly 40,000 people.

The labor ministry aims to send 105,000 employees overseas, mostly to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

SGT