Although he has been granted a residence permit, from the beginning of 2021 until now, Mr. Tran Viet Anh (26 years old, My Loc, Nam Dinh) has not been able to enter to Japan to work under a contract.

“Now we just hope that the epidemic situation will be controlled soon so that workers like us can go to export under contracts” – said the man.

Tran Viet Anh is just one of tens of thousands of Vietnamese workers who are currently eligible to go to work abroad but have not been able to leave the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, most of the markets that receive a large number of Vietnamese workers such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (China)... are temporarily suspending to welcome foreign workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak again.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, bringing laborers abroad to work under contracts has faced many difficulties in recent years. The difficulties caused by the impact of the pandemic in the country.  

From the beginning of 2021 until now, the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has always been very complicated. Urgent epidemic prevention and control policies of provinces and cities have restricted the movement of workers to study and participate in interviews at dispatching companies.

Along with that, by policies to limit mass gatherings, job counseling and introduction programs of provinces and cities in collaboration with businesses could not take place. As a result, the access to program information and recruitment orders from foreign partners is significantly limited.

In addition, in order to ensure the prevention and control of epidemics, the receiving countries and territories, such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (China)... have issued regulations to ban or restrict foreigners for entering.

In addition, the suspension of international flights between Vietnam and a number of receiving countries has made it impossible for the number of workers who have been recruited to leave the country.

With the current complicated disease situation, according to enterprises in the export sector, the difficult labour supply source will continue to persist in 2021. It is expected to be in 2022, when the COVID-19 vaccine injection in the world, including Vietnam, is deployed more widely, the number of workers registered to work abroad has hope of recovery.

The Department of Overseas Labor under MoLISA has issued a document to guide enterprises on support policies in the spirit of Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP and Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister in order to remove difficulties for businesses.

Accordingly, businesses based on their specific situation, carry out procedures for appropriate support./.