The International Labor Organization (ILO) - the United Nations' professional agency on labor and employment - has just released a new summary report on the linkage between employment, trade and global supply chains in Vietnam, within the framework of a roundtable dialogue chaired by the Institute for Policy and Strategy Research under the Central Economic Commission.
Some key findings from the summary report include: More than 35% of Vietnam's total employment is related to the global supply chain. Vietnam accounts for more than 25% of the total of more than 75 million jobs related to the global supply chain in Southeast Asia. In particular, the manufacturing and processing sector accounts for 49% of total employment related to the global supply chain nationwide. More than 76% of Vietnam's global supply chain-related jobs depend, directly or indirectly, on foreign demand from ASEAN, China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Industries with high labor intensity in the supply chain tend to hire female and younger workers with a larger proportion, with higher number of salaried jobs, but the employment rate for highly skilled workers is still low.
To ensure satisfactory employment outputs in the supply chain, there should be coordinated efforts in many policy areas, to minimize short-term disruptions and shape Vietnam's position in the medium and long term.
These efforts include: Diversifying trade and strengthening domestic industrial linkages; developing comprehensive and on-demand skills; labor market policies that meet gender factors and a social security system that meets shocks in the process of equitable transformation; improving job quality and raising labor standards; inclusive social dialogue and coordinating institutions.
Strengthening the resilience of supply chains and taking advantage of new growth areas creates strategic opportunities to further accelerate Vietnam's restructuring process, allowing a shift to higher value-added activities and higher-skills jobs, thereby consolidating the progress of implementing the sustainable employment agenda.
