HCMC – Vietnam is in 47th place among 60 labor markets worldwide in terms of the workforce index while ranking lowest among 11 nations in the Asia-Pacific region, according to ManpowerGroup’s total workforce index 2022 global analysis.
The Top 10 global labor markets in 2022 comprise the United States, Singapore, Canada, Ireland, Australia, England, Israel, the Philippines, Mexico and Malaysia.
Vietnam’s workforce was analyzed as abundant but limited in skills. This year, over 50.7 million laborers are available in Vietnam, with Generation Y, born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, and Gen Z, born from the late 1990s to early 2010s, accounting for 65% of the total. The abundant young workforce has made Vietnam more attractive to foreign investors.
However, despite the abundance of manpower, Vietnam’s informal workforce represents a whopping 55% of the total. It is challenging for the Government to shift the informal workforce to formal to ensure the welfare and benefits of laborers and unlock their potential.
As for workforce skills, only 5% of Vietnamese workers are proficient in English, while 11.67% are highly skilled, equivalent to the percentage three years ago.
As such, the labor skills of the Vietnamese workforce need to be improved to catch up with other markets.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s prevailing regulations on managing and using the workforce are flexible. The country allows firms to sign a labor contract with a maximum tenure of 36 months, while subcontracting is also allowed.
The Vietnamese Government is offering multiple favorable conditions for international trading activities, giving visa waiver programs to 63 nations, up 15 countries against 2021, paving the way for foreign investors to do business in Vietnam.
The Total Workforce Index is an annual report on global labor markets conducted by Talent Solutions, a unit of the ManpowerGroup. The index can be used as an indicator of workforce potential and the availability of the best, most diverse talent and in-demand skills in each market.