Labor market information not yet available
According to the Overseas Labor Center (Colab), in the 2021-2025 period, including the EPS Program alone, the whole country has 3,367 workers in 28 provinces and cities working in Korea. Of which, the 3 provinces with the largest number of workers are Bac Ninh: 355 people, Quang Tri: 570 people, Thanh Hoa: 1,720 people.
Ms. Bui Thi Huyen (from Thanh Hoa) is a worker who returned home in August 2023 after her working term under the EPS Program expired.
With the accumulated capital from a period of labor export, Ms. Huyen planned to open a tailor shop in her hometown because before going to Korea, she was a tailor in her hometown. However, after half a year, she has closed because according to her, "securities are "advancing" with cheap pre-sold goods on e-commerce platforms".
Before getting married, Ms. Huyen lived with her parents, only worrying about food and water every day. She went online to find a job but the job was either too far from home, or not suitable for her. At the end of 2024, a company with Korean investment capital returned to Ms. Huyen's hometown to open a factory specializing in the production of electrical equipment. Job opportunities opened up when Ms. Huyen read the announcement that this company recruited workers who could speak basic Korean, giving priority to those who had worked abroad in Korea.
For more than a year now, I have been working as an office worker for the company. In addition to administrative books related to personnel, my work is also occasionally assigned to be an interpreter at company meetings. In particular, when the company's leaders meet with local authorities or authorities, I am assigned to be in charge of the epidemic," said Ms. Huyen.
Having a stable job, Ms. Huyen admitted that she was lucky. Basically, apart from searching for recruitment information online, she does not have any "living" connection to have better job opportunities.
Mr. Dang Van Minh - from Quang Trung ward (Thanh Hoa) went to work in Korea under the EPS Program. Having returned home for more than a year, Mr. Minh has not found a suitable job despite having skills and experience working in the plastic industry and knowing foreign languages.
"I have been to Hanoi to attend a job fair for workers exported to the country, but the job opportunities are not suitable. The salary offered by businesses is quite attractive, some units pay more than 20 million VND/month but there are additional requirements that we cannot meet. I think if the authorities notify me of statistics and specific recruitment requirements in each industry and field, it will be easier for returning workers to find jobs, Mr. Minh shared.
The connecting role of authorities is not clear
According to Colab, up to now, the Center has been assigned to implement 8 programs under international agreements to recruit and send workers to work in 5 countries and territories including Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia and Taiwan (China). The common point of these programs is that workers enjoy superior preferential conditions, low costs, and some programs are fully affordable.
In Korea, the EPS Program has been implemented since 2004 under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs (formerly the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor of Korea. Colab has coordinated with the Korea Human Resources Development Agency (HRD Korea) to send and receive 144,865 people to work in Korea. Workers participating in the program only pay an amount of money equivalent to 630 USD, the current minimum wage for workers in Korea is 2,096,270 won, equivalent to 40 million VND/month.
In Japan, the IM Japan Program has been implemented since 2004. Colab cooperated with IM Japan to send 9,188 workers for technical internships in Japan. Employees are supported by IM Japan with tuition and dormitory fees for 4 months of official training before dispatch, an average income of about 27 million VND/month, and a career development incentive of equivalent to 110 million VND when returning home.
In addition, Colab also implemented many non-profit programs such as Osaka Program; We are Asian Program...
Regarding labor support after completing the contract to return home, Colab maintains support for job introduction for workers who have completed the contract to return home. Accordingly, it periodically coordinates with local employment service centers to organize 93 fairs and job fairs, prioritizing organization in poor districts for businesses, including many businesses with investment capital from Korea and Japan, to participate in recruitment. Up to now, the job fairs have had 1,900 participating businesses, connecting job opportunities for 15,000 workers, with 7,441 workers in poor districts alone participating.
In addition, Colab also built a database, an EPS labor network and IM Japan trainee to successfully establish a career in the country to connect job opportunities, share startup experiences...
Assessing the effectiveness of connecting jobs for returning workers, Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment said that the number of 15,000 workers who are connected to jobs after returning home among hundreds of thousands of workers exported each year is " modest".
Mr. Trung said that labor supply and demand, especially in the group of returning exported workers with FDI enterprises from countries they have worked in, have not been widely implemented in recent times. The role of coordination, connection, intermediation, and support of state management agencies in this group is not clear. Therefore, a " gap" in the labor market still exists.
