Too many people, not enough jobs

12:41' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
A rapidly growing population is outpacing efforts to create employment
Rapid population has affected the country's capacity to generate jobs in the 2006-10 period, according to Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa.
About 1.6mil go in search of a job every year. Meanwhile, the nation's population is growing by more than a million annually.
The population has been increasing annually by more than 1%, and more than 1mil people annually reach a working age, Hoa told representatives at a national conference held last week in Da Nang City. The conference looked at implementing an employment programme and the Law on Vietnamese people working overseas under contract.
Hoa said the national target programme on employment aimed to secure jobs for about 49.5mil of people by 2010 and create new jobs for 8mil people in the 2006-10 period. The rate of unemployment was expected to reduce by 5% by 2010.

In 2006 and 2007, the Government approved an additional fund of VND485bil ($US30.3mil) for a national employment fund allocated to 64 cities and provinces nation-wide and social and political organisations. In that period, more than 160,000 labourers were sent to work abroad.

At the conference, representatives from localities, enterprises and employment service centres asked relevant sectors to complete policies and regulations on labour and employment, revising articles from the Labour Code and from the Law on Minimum Salary. The representatives also said that it was necessary to develop a Law on Employment.

Participants also discussed ways to develop the domestic labour market and expand the foreign market, while strengthening check-ups and management of projects under the national target programme.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the country's economy has developed in more than 20 years of doi moi (renewal), but is not yet stable and is only minimally competitive. The unemployment rate in urban areas was still high at 5.10% in 2006.

The country's population is expected to reach 89mil by 2010. With the working population increasing at a speed of 2.4-2.5% each year, there are about 1.6mil people in need of employment annually.