A labour shortage, particularly in manpower-intensive industries such as agribusiness and food processing, is likely to intensify over the long term in Thailand as the COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult for foreign labourers to move across borders.
Two of Sarawak state’s economic sectors heavily dependent on foreign labourers, oil palm plantations and construction, are reeling from the Government’s ban imposed on nationals from 23 countries from September 7.
The Malaysian government’s suspension on hiring foreign labourers has left the fishing sector in the country severely understaffed, with fishermen facing a tough future, according to the Malaysian Insight.
Amid its intensive integration into the world, Vietnam is becoming a magnet for new-generation foreign direct investment (FDI). A more competitive economy will create momentum for promoting markets, including the labour market which is witnessing swift changes.
To develop the support industry for the leather and footwear sector, the State should have policies to encourage the development of new materials, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).
The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs has asked the Department of Overseas Labour Management to devise plans to repatriate Vietnamese labourers working in countries and territories affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than 800 businesses and 8,700 employees have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
The GDP growth target of 6.8 percent for 2020 creates a very huge challenge in the context of draught, saline water intrusion, COVID-19 and other diseases on the cultivation of poultry and animals (H5N1, H5N6).
The number of foreign companies and corporations choosing Vietnam for investment and production has increased strongly in recent years but their recruitment of staff has faced problems.
Japanese electronic device maker Lion Power is tapping into football’s popularity in Vietnam as a way to recruit technical trainees amid a labour shortage in Japan, reported the Asian Nikkei Review.
Vietnam now ranks second in the number of employees working in Japan, according to the latest statistics of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Vietnamese workers in Japan topped 401,000 as of October 2019, an increase of 26.7 percent from a year earlier, adding up to the record of almost 1.66 million foreign workers in the country, data of the Japanese labour ministry show.
Emerging tech companies are still struggling to recruit high quality IT engineers to feed Vietnam’s booming technology industry, despite a steady growth in graduates over the last few years.
Ibaraki prefecture of Japan recently said that it wants to expand cooperation with the Vietnamese Government to ease the labour shortage by inviting more Vietnamese workers to the locality.
Many workers in craft villages in the northern mountainous province of Vinh Phuc have enjoy continuous rises in their income, thanks to the province’s support policy for local small industry and handicraft in rural areas.
The number of Vietnamese people residing in Japan amounts to 371,755, making it the third largest foreign community in the country, according to Japan’s Immigration Services Agency.
Japan’s MOS Food Services Inc. on October 15 announced that it will train 350 Vietnamese students over four years so that they can work at its MOS Burger stores across the country.
ASEAN
