Every year the workforce is supplemented by about 500,000 people.

Sewing goods for export to the Japanese market at Hung Viet Garment Company, Pho Noi (Hung Yen). (Photo: Tran Viet/VNA)

The labor force aged 15 and over in the first quarter of 2025 was 52.9 million people, down 230,700 people compared to the previous quarter and up 532,000 people compared to the same period last year.

In addition, the rate of trained workers continues to increase: The rate of trained workers with degrees and certificates in the first quarter of 2025 was 28.8%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 1.0 percentage point compared to the same period last year.

The number of employed workers in the first quarter increased compared to the previous year, the labor structure by industry has shifted positively, reducing the proportion of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, increasing the proportion in the industry, construction and service sectors.

The number of employed workers in the first quarter of 2025 reached 51.9 million people, down 234,000 people, equivalent to a decrease of 0.4% compared to the previous quarter, and up 532,100 people, equivalent to an increase of 1.04% compared to the same period last year.

The labor force in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector reached 13.5 million people, down 305,000 people compared to the same period last year; the labor force in the industry and construction sector reached 17.2 million people, up 262,000 people compared to the same period last year; and the service sector reached 21.2 million people, up 575,000 people compared to the same period last year.

The average monthly income of workers in the first quarter of 2025 was VND 8.3 million, an increase of VND 131,000 compared to the previous quarter and an increase of VND 720,000 compared to the same period last year, equivalent to an increase of 1.6% and 9.5%.

The General Statistics Office said that our country's socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2025 achieved many positive results, contributing to reducing the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate among working-age people in the first quarter of 2025 was 2.2%, down 0.02 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 0.04 percentage points from the same period last year.

The number of unemployed people of working age in the first quarter of 2025 was about 797,000 people, an increase of 32,400 people compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 136,000 people compared to the same period last year.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Minh, Deputy Head of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics - General Statistics Office said: The labor market continues to recover, however, the quality of labor supply is still limited, not meeting the labor demand of a modern, flexible, sustainable and integrated labor market.

Nationwide, only 28.8% of the labor force has been trained and has certificates, lacking both quantity and technical expertise, especially high-quality human resources. Therefore, it requires training policies and educational streams to promote and improve the quality of human resources.

Not only that, the number of employed workers tends to increase but the labor market is not yet developing sustainably. Specifically: 64.3% of workers with informal jobs do precarious, unstable jobs with low income, an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

For the formal sector, according to the first quarter of 2025, the total number of newly established and returning enterprises in the first quarter of 2025 was more than 72,900, while the total number of enterprises withdrawing from the market was 78,800.

Thus, the business sector not only attracts and creates new jobs for the economy, creating opportunities for informal workers to move, but in the first quarter of 2025, 6,000 businesses withdrew from the market.

Therefore, it requires institutional reform, cutting administrative procedures and breakthrough support policies for private enterprises.

In addition, the implementation of Resolution 18 on streamlining the apparatus as well as the continued merger of provincial levels and the removal of district levels in the next quarter, with several hundred thousand public sector employees moving to the private sector, requires policies to support and retrain this force to adapt to the new environment.

Mr. Minh also pointed out that if the US applies a reciprocal tax rate of 46% to Vietnam, it is certain that businesses producing export groups/items related to electronic computers and components; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; phones of all kinds and components; textiles; footwear; wood and wood products, these six groups of goods account for more than 70% of Vietnam's total export turnover to the US in 2024 will be affected.

On the other hand, the labor shift from the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector to the construction industry and service sector has resulted in Vietnam's labor productivity in recent times, although it has improved significantly in the direction of increasing steadily over the years with a high labor productivity growth rate in the region. However, Vietnam's current labor productivity level is still very low compared to other countries in the region./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/moi-nam-luc-luong-lao-dong-duoc-bo-sung-khoang-500-000-nguoi-245285.htm