A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs MOLISA in 2010 showed that workers in mining and metallurgy industries now get the highest pays in Vietnam.

In the interview given to Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam, Tong Thi Minh, Director of MOLISA’s Labor – Wage Department said:

“We conducted the survey on 1581 enterprises. Each of which have at least 10 workers and on 14,451 workers from different types of enterprises, from state owned companies, joint stock companies with state investment capital, foreign invested enterprises and non-state owned enterprises.”

The survey was conducted in 15 provinces and cities representing eight economic zones, including Hanoi, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh in the north, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak in the central region, HCM City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Can Tho in the south.

We have found that the business fields which offer lowest wages to laborers, are mostly the business fields which mainly do the outsourcing for foreign partners and use many workers.

The aim of the survey is to collect information about laborers, wages and social insurance in order to serve the drawing of necessary policies.

What are the results of the survey?

In general, the stabilization and the upward trend were seen in 2010. However, the wage increases were different for different types of enterprises and different business fields.

The average wage of every laborer of all types of businesses in 2010 was 3.2 million dong per month, an increase of 10.3 percent in comparison with 2009. Workers in state owned enterprises had the average wage of 3.8 million dong, an increase of 8.6 percent, while workers in joint stock companies with state investment capital got 3.3 million dong (+10 percent). Meanwhile, the figures were 3 million dong for foreign invested enterprises (+11.1 percent) and 2.7 million dong for non-state enterprises (+12.5 percent).

Which enterprises are offering the best wages in the labor market then?

Mining and metallurgy prove to be the industries which pay the best wages in the market. Workers in the industries could get 9.2 million dong a month on average. Meanwhile, workers in the banking sector got 7.6 million dong, pharmacy workers got seven million dong, and workers at electronics enterprises got 5.5 million dong.

Meanwhile, workers in other business fields could get 2.1-2.2 million dong a month only. These included the production fields which used many workers and mainly did the outsourcing for foreign partners, such as garment, footwear or cooking processing.

Can you tell us about the differences in the wages that personnel on different positions could get?

The gap between the wages that managers or key staff get, and the wages paid for unskilled workers tends to increase.

For example, at foreign invested enterprises, the wage that managers could get in 2006 was 9-10 times higher than the wage given to untrained laborers. Meanwhile, the gap increased to 20-21 times in 2010. The gap was just 7-8 times for domestic enterprises.

The noteworthy thing is that the gap in developed labor markets such as HCM City, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Binh Duong and Dong Nai were bigger than the gap in other localities.

What are your comments about the wage levels now in the labor market?

The consumer price index increased sharply in 2010 by 11.75 percent. Therefore, the wage increases were still not high enough to improve the living standards of laborers.

The upward trend in the gap between the wages that key personnel and untrained workers can receive shows that businesses have paid more attention to the role of wages in attracting talent.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam