Vietnamese guest workers send home up to US$2.5 billion annually

The period between 2010 and 2017 saw 821,862 Vietnamese go abroad to work as guest workers. Since 2014, Vietnam has consistently sent more than 102,000 guest workers abroad each year. The number of guest workers increased sharply in markets that enjoy high incomes such as Japan (up 461% in the period between 2013 and 2017), Taiwan (up by 183%) and the Middle East (up by 120%).

Taiwan drew the highest number of Vietnamese workers while the number of guest workers to Japan saw a sudden rise, jumping 11 times in 2017 compared to 2013 and three times compared to the figure from 2014.

In the 2010 to 2017 period, guest workers received a higher and more stable income compared to those with the same qualifications and in the same field of work at home.

The average income of Vietnamese guest workers was between US$400 and 600 per month in the Middle East, between US$700 and 800 in Taiwan (China) and between US$1,000 and 1,200 in the Republic of Korea and Japan.

As a result of guest workers working in high income nations, Vietnam now enjoys the highest amount of capital from overseas workers sending money home in the world.

The Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee reported that its workers sent more than VND4,000 billion home in one year, equaling nearly half of the province’s gross revenue.

Also according to the report of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, the number of foreign employees in Vietnam surged significantly in the years between 2013 and 2017, however numbers suffered a decline between 2016 and 2017.

As of 2017, Vietnam had 81,359 foreigners workers, 23,330 of whom were managers, 11,631 were managing directors, 28,198 were experts, 14,743 were technicians and 3,488 were other workers.

As many as 69,863 were granted work permits, accounting for 85.9% while 6,417 did not have work permits and 5,078 others are waiting for work permits.

Foreign employees come from around 110 different countries and territories, 30.9% of whom are from China, 18.3% from the RoK, 12.9% from Taiwan, 9.5% from Japan and the remaining 28.4% from other countries.

In general, the management and use of foreign workers in Vietnam are in line with law.