The Thai cabinet has approved in principle increasing the number of foreign workers at businesses to deal with labour shortage, according to Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsab.

Authorities of Thailand are ramping up the crackdown on foreigners illegally working in the country, with a campaign launched by the Ministry of Labour to inspect workplaces employing migrant workers nationwide.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung on August 13 met with Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Cristina Romila to discuss labour cooperation between Vietnam and Romania.

A Vietnamese employee has won a national contest on customer service of 7-Eleven Japan – the biggest chain of convenience stores in Japan.

Laos's Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare plans to issue visas to illegal foreign workers and extend permits to legal ones so that they can continue to work in the country.

Malaysia has launched a programme to repatriate foreign workers who have no legal papers to their home country.

Applications for the recruitment of foreign workers for barbershops and the textile and goldsmithery sub-sectors will open on October 10, according to Malaysian Minister of Human Resources V. Sivakumar.

If Vietnamese workers who illegally reside in the Republic of Korea voluntarily return to the homeland between September 11 and December 31, 2023, they will not be subject to fines and entry restrictions.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on September 4 approved part of the applications for the recruitment of foreign workers, involving barbering, textiles and goldsmithing.

The Czech Republic needs to attract foreign workers, including those from Vietnam and the Philippines, said Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Marian Jurecka.

More than 163,000 labourers in Ho Chi Minh City found jobs in the first six months of 2023, up 0.21% year on year, while more than 79,900 new jobs were created, a rise of 0.25%, reported the municipal Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs.

Vietnamese workers in Changwon city of Gyeongsangnam province, the Republic of Korea (RoK), were updated on the host country’s laws at a meeting held on June 11.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) believes that the number of foreign workers in Malaysia will easily exceed 1 million in 2023.

Malaysia’s Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on February 27 said that his country will develop a portal that provides labour supply and demand to facilitate the hiring of foreign workers.

Vietnamese nationals account for 25.4% of the total 1.82 million foreign workers who were working in Japan as of the end of October last year, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).

Malaysia’s government will accelerate the implementation of a plan on promoting the recruitment of foreign workers in five sector,s namely manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture, and services (restaurants only), according to Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar.

Malaysia’s expected entry of 500,000 foreign workers this year will not affect job opportunities for locals, said Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar on January 16.

The shortage of foreign workers needs be resolved soon, the National Recovery Council (NRC) said on October 31.

Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) announced that it has approved a quota for recruiting 541,315 foreign workers as of September 1.

Although the Government of Malaysia has opened the border since April 1 and encouraged the recruitment of foreign workers, the continued labour shortage is seriously affecting the country’s palm oil industry.