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Workers receive training from the HCM City Vocational Training College beore accepting jobs abroad. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy |
In the first nine months of the year, the city has sent 3,497 guest workers overseas. Most guest workers have been sent to the traditional markets of Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which do not require top skills or foreign languages, according to the city Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DoLISA).
Le Hong Phuong, who lives in Binh Thanh District and is seeking a job at the city's Employment Service Centre, said jobs as guest workers in other countries were no longer attractive, as in previous years.
Labourers in Viet Nam earn about VND2-3 million (US$105-160) a month as a construction or garment worker, while guest labourers who work in Malaysia or in the Middle East only earn about VND4-5 million a month.
Tran Van Thanh, deputy director of the Labour and Expert Export Company (Suleco), said under Suleco's co-cooperation programme with the city's Steering Committee for Hunger Eradication, Poverty Reduction and Employment, his company had set aside 20 per cent of the company's annual labour export to help poor workers.
However, his company has had difficulty meeting the target because labourers were not considering working abroad.
In addition, many labourers do not have enough money to pay fees to export-labour companies to work overseas and do not have the requisite job skills.
DoLISA has worked with agencies to help labour-export companies recruit workers and create favourable conditions for labourers to work overseas.
DoLISA has given priorities for poor labourers to borrow 100 per cent of total expenses required for going to work overseas. It will also support tuition fees for poor labourers to study job skills and foreign languages.
Poor labourers who want to work overseas can borrow up to VND50 million at the city's Steering Committee for Hunger Eradication, Poverty Reduction and Employment.
If VND50 million is not enough for covering the expenses of going to work overseas, poor labourers can borrow an additional VND30 million at the Bank for Social Policy.
Labour-export companies have also implemented several measures to help poor labourers working overseas, including directly finding overseas employers so that brokerage commission fees could be reduced for guest labourers.
The Chau Hung Trading Joint-Stock Company, for example, has carried out this to help poor labourers work in Malaysia.
Under the programme, the company provides free-interest loans to work abroad for its guest labourers and gives VND1 million to each guest labourer for passports and health check-ups.
There are more than 50 labour-export companies and branches operating in the city, according to DoLISA. — VNS
