National employment programme reviewed

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

About 800 job fairs have been organised nationwide since 2011, through which approximately 8 million job seekers were provided with consultation and job vacancies and 3 million of them actually found employment as a result.

The information was revealed at a conference to review the National Target Programme on Employment and Vocational Training in the 2012-2015 period held in the central province of Binh Thuan on September 18 with the participation of representatives from job placement centres and labour departments of 32 provinces in the southern region.

As of 2015, the programme has accomplished the goal of raising the ratio of workers recruited via job placement centres to 37.89 percent, said Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs.

However, the number of labourers benefiting from job-creating loans provided by the National Employment Fund in the period only reached 57 percent of the plan’s goal of 700,000-800,000, he added.

At the conference, representatives also discussed issues related to the labour market and employment that are likely to arise when Vietnam participates in the ASEAN Community by the end of this year.

The formation of the ASEAN Community is expected to create a free flow of skilled labourers in the region, which will pose certain challenges to the Vietnamese workforce which is lagging behind many regional countries in terms of professional skills.

Orientations for labour market development and unemployment insurance in the 2016-2020 period were also tabled for discussion.-VNA