Vietnam is confronting a growing tension between its reliance on overseas employment and the labour demands of industries at home, as workers increasingly seek higher-paying jobs abroad despite efforts by domestic employers to raise wages.
According to the home ministry, between 130,000 and 150,000 Vietnamese go abroad to work annually, with the overseas labour market totalling nearly 900,000 by the end of last year. In May alone, 1,948 Vietnamese went abroad to work in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Europe, according to a Department of Overseas Labour report on June 3.
The movement generates substantial income for Vietnam. Vietnamese abroad remit between US$6 billion and US$7 billion a year, making overseas employment a significant contributor to the national economy. But the continued outflow is also creating recruitment difficulties for industries that depend heavily on labour.
A report submitted in late June by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers to the Ministry of Finance identified worker shortages as a major challenge in key centres including the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City. The industry reported that even salary increases of 25 to 30 per cent had failed to resolve difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers.
The garment industry is facing similar pressures. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc in May that competition for labour was “increasingly fierce”. Workers are being sought not only by overseas employers but also by higher-paying electronics and machinery producers within Vietnam, according to Hoang Lan Anh, a labour migration researcher at the University of Melbourne.
Association chairman Do Ngoc Tai said at an industrial conference on July 30 that many garment factories lacked “sufficient manpower to ensure order deadlines or secure new contracts” and were competing with “electronics and many other manufacturing sectors” for workers.
Yet the movement of labour cannot simply be explained as factory workers leaving Vietnam for foreign jobs. For many people in poorer central provinces, the choice is between overseas employment and domestic migration to industrial centres, rather than between staying locally and emigrating, Anh said.
“Labour exports have been treated by the government primarily as a poverty-reduction strategy because migrant workers mainly come from the disaster-prone and resource-poor central Vietnam, where food processing and manufacturing roles offer very low wages,” she said. Salaries in the area usually range from US$200 to US$250.
Workers in seafood export and garment factories typically earn between US$250 and US$350 a month, which can be barely sufficient for household expenses. Vietnamese workers in destinations such as Japan and South Korea can earn three to five times more, Anh said, making overseas employment an important means of securing family incomes.
However, higher overseas wages do not necessarily translate into substantial savings. Jiho Yoshimizu, representative director of the Japan-Vietnam Tomoiki/Mutual Support Association, said deductions for tax, social insurance, housing, utilities and other costs can significantly reduce workers’ earnings. Recruitment and training debts can also leave some workers vulnerable to exploitation, including harassment, unpaid wages, overworking and jobs that differ from what was promised.
“The main issue is not simply whether wages in Japan are higher than those in Vietnam,” Yoshimizu said. “It is whether workers receive accurate information before departure, whether recruitment costs are reasonable, and whether they can work in a safe environment where their rights are protected.”
For some migrants, overseas employment also offers an opportunity to acquire skills. Nguyen Van Duan, an automotive technician from central Quang Nam province, went to Japan through a recruitment agency, attracted by higher pay as well as the chance to develop technical skills, improve his Japanese and experience a more disciplined professional environment. He hopes to use that experience to build a career in Vietnam’s automotive repair industry after returning.
For Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, who moved to Japan first as an international student, returning home would be attractive if she could find competitive pay and use her English and Japanese skills. “Being close to my family and friends is something I value very much,” Ngoc said.
The broader challenge, however, is ensuring that overseas employment does not leave workers trapped in low-skilled careers or vulnerable to exploitation. Anh said the immediate priority should be protecting migrant workers’ rights, ensuring equal wages and benefits for equivalent work and reducing exploitation and abuse by intermediaries.
“A workplace that offers opportunities to learn, fair treatment, job stability, and a clear career path is just as important,” Duan said.
