Hanoi (VNA) – Several measures for developinga sustainable labour market in the post-pandemic period were suggested by many delegateson the sidelines of the Vietnam Socio-Economic Forum 2022 on September 18.

Bui Sy Loi, former ViceChairman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for Social Affairs, said thelabour market has been disrupted due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest obstacle to productionand business recovery is the low human resource quality, so it is necessary todevelop a flexible, sustainable, integrated, and effective labour market, hesaid, recommending the NA perfect regulations, mechanisms, and policies so thatthe labour market and the economy can stay resilient to such incidents as the COVID-19pandemic.

Pham Trong Nghia, a delegatefrom Lang Son province, said Vietnam is now in the recovery period, duringwhich enterprises are expanding operations and need great labour supply sincewhen COVID-19 broke out, a large number of workers returned to their hometowns,leading to labour shortages in the places with many major industrial parks.

Labour supply and humanresource quality in key industrial parks need due attention, he added.

He said economic recoverywill be accompanied by labour-related issues. Many jobs in new fields will appearafter the pandemic and require workers to have new skills. Given this, workersneed to undergo more training to meet new requirements.

This is the best measure forimproving the quantity and quality of workers to satisfy post-pandemic economicdevelopment demand, Nghia went on.

Echoing the view, delegateLam Van Doan from Lam Dong province cited statistics as showing that only 26%of the workforce had degrees or certificates in June 2022, which meant over 70%underwent only short-term or general training.

This is a big challenge whenVietnam is striving to boost digital transformation and integration into globalvalue chain, he noted, pointing out that it is highly difficult to seek workerscapable of meeting requirements in high-value industries.

The country needs to step upvocational training to form a skilled workforce meeting development requirementsin the new context, Doan went on.

Loi also underlined theimportance of social housing, which has fulfilled just 41% of the target in thehousing development strategy by 2020.

Nghia held that one of thereasons for workers to return to their hometowns during the pandemic is thatsocial security, including housing, has yet to be guaranteed. Social housing,including housing for workers, have been debated much, but the Government stillneeds stronger measures so that workers can settle down and focus on theirjobs./.