The High-Income Market: Wide Open for Vietnamese Workers

Short-Term Work Opportunities in Singapore

The Vietnam-Singapore Innovation Talent Exchange Program will recruit 300 candidates from Vietnam annually for innovation-related jobs across 15 sectors.

This notable program, managed by the Overseas Labor Management Bureau of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, will issue work permits valid for up to two years. Candidates can work in various fields, including but not limited to green economy, agricultural technology, and financial services. The positions offered will be related to one of 15 areas: data science and analytics, cybersecurity and risk management, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and more.

According to the eligibility criteria, candidates in Vietnam must be graduates of five universities: Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi National University (including the School of Natural Sciences and the International School), Ho Chi Minh City National University (including the School of Natural Sciences, the School of Information Technology, and the International School), Danang University (including the School of Technology and the School of Technical Education), and Duy Tan University.

The Overseas Labor Management Bureau stated that the program aims to help Vietnamese workers find short-term, innovation-related jobs in qualified companies in Singapore. The recruitment process is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the Vietnam-Singapore Innovation Talent Exchange Program. This MoU was signed on August 28, 2023, by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Minister of Manpower, who also serves as the Minister of Trade and Industry of Singapore.

Increasing Opportunities for Vietnamese Nurses in Japan

According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, in 2023, 159,986 Vietnamese workers were employed abroad. Of these, 1,355 worked in Singapore, and over 600 have been employed there in the first half of 2024.

Mr. Pham Viet Huong, Deputy Director of the Overseas Labor Management Bureau, stated that Vietnamese workers abroad are engaged in various forms of employment, including manufacturing (mechanics, textiles, leather, electronics assembly, etc.), construction, agriculture, fisheries (fishing and aquaculture), and services (elderly and patient care, housekeeping, etc.). These workers enjoy good working and living conditions, along with welfare benefits.

The income of Vietnamese workers is quite high and stable, ranging from $1,200 to $1,600 per month in Japan and South Korea, $800 to $1,200 per month in European countries, $700 to $1,000 per month for skilled workers in the Middle East and Africa, and $500 to $600 per month for unskilled laborers.

Mr. Huong noted that in recent years, Japan has consistently been the leading market for Vietnamese workers in various fields. In June 2024, Vietnam and Japan signed an agreement to increase the number of nursing interns, with a plan to accept 40 people this year and 500 in the next five years. The new agreement also expands the recruitment group and relaxes the requirements for deployment, as Japan seeks to increase the number of workers in large hospitals.

During a recent meeting with Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, Mr. Ito Naoki, the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, assessed the quality of human resources and shared that Japanese businesses view Vietnam as a country with great potential for economic development and a particular strength in high-quality human resource development. Ambassador Ito Naoki stated that approximately 570,000 Vietnamese people are living and working in Japan, making Vietnam the top source country among the 15 nations sending interns and laborers to Japan.

Recently, the Japanese government introduced a new program to replace the old skill intern program. The new program prioritizes protecting the rights of foreigners working in Japan and offers them the opportunity to work longer in the country, helping to alleviate the severe labor shortage caused by Japan’s aging population.

“Japanese medical institutions are eager to receive more nurses and caregivers from Vietnam through the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA). However, the number of candidates for this program has not met the demand, even though Japan has relaxed some criteria, such as reducing the Japanese language training period to three months,” shared Ambassador Ito Naoki. He expressed his hope that Vietnam would focus on increasing the number of nursing candidates going to Japan and proposed that the two countries promptly initiate negotiations for a bilateral social security agreement.