Only 34,000 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad in the first six months of this year, meeting 37 percent of the annual target, says a labour ministry official.

This year’s target of sending 90,000 people to work abroad is unlikely to be met due to the impact of the economic crisis, according to Dao Cong Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Overseas Labour Management Department.

The number of guest workers sent to Taiwan and Malaysia has declined compared to last year. However, the Middle East remains a potential market for Vietnamese workers.

Over the last few months, many workers have had to return home before the expiration of their contracts because of the crisis, and steps are being taken to help them, Hai said.

The State has supported labour export businesses in helping laid-off guest workers get preferential loans to attend vocational training courses or set up their own household businesses or small and medium-sized enterprises.

But most of the laid-off guest workers wanted a refund of all the money they had to spend to get overseas, including the costs of vocational and foreign language training, air tickets and commissions and other services, Hai said.

Labour export businesses were not able to reimburse all the money, leading to disputes over compensation for their unfulfilled contracts and insurance policies.

The decrease in recruitment of guest workers had occurred in some industrial sectors like car assembly, and electronics parts and garment production, Hai said, advising labour export businesses to shift their focus to other sectors like food processing and production, education, health care, agriculture and deep sea fishing.

Businesses have focused on training workers to meet the increasing demand for skilled labour in some industrial sectors like shipbuilding, welding and mechanics.

Labour export businesses would have their licences revoked if they fall to send 100 labourers to work overseas within a year, Hai said. This required thorough preparation so they could have a ready source of qualified workers to tap.