Labour mobility has been touted as one of the most significant features of the Asean Economic Community, which is scheduled to take effect in late 2015, but the loss of skilled workers from lower-paying countries to those with higher wage levels remains a concern for many.
Cambodian workers crowd the train platform in the border town of Aranyaprathet as they prepare to flee home amid rumours of a crackdown in Thailand.
Skilled workers in eight professions — doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers, architects, accountants, surveyors and tourism professionals – will find it easier to work across borders or in other Asean countries once the AEC takes effect.
However, less developed countries in Asean are worried about the possible shrinking of their talent pool, which could further hinder their planned moves upward in the value chain.
Facilitating the movement of professionals has been a response to shortages of highly skilled workers in many countries. However, given the wide differences in income and development levels among Asean countries, labour mobility can be both a push and a pull factor.
Some labour-importing countries may find it more difficult to reserve jobs for their nationals, even in fields that are seen as sensitive for security or other reasons.
Some countries such as Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia will become recipients with higher wages and better employment opportunities, leading to a more serious shortage of skilled workers in other economies.
Among those who have already moved up the career ladder by going abroad is Tran Hung, a former student of FPT University in Vietnam. After several years working at FPT, he found a job in Singapore as a software engineer. Although he has a huge workload, he says he loves his job and is earning a good salary, while at the same time the city state offers a more professional working environment and more opportunities for career development.
A freer flow of labour within the Asean community will represent both new opportunities and challenges for job seekers, according to “Global Employment Trends 2014: The Risk of a Jobless Recovery”, a report by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO).
Using Vietnam as an example, Carmela Torres of the ILO’s Bangkok office says Vietnamese travelling to other Asean countries will receive higher pay in recognition of their abilities. On the other hand, those who remain at home will face problems in terms of competitiveness — an extreme shortage of Vietnamese who speak foreign languages for example — especially when foreign services providers can also bring their skilled workers to host countries instead of hiring local staff.
“Without a foreign language, or English, Vietnamese workers will find it difficult to access new knowledge, which is a barrier to integration,” said Le Quang Trung, deputy director of the employment bureau at Vietnam’s Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
“Without a foreign language, or English, Vietnamese workers will find it difficult to access new knowledge, which is a barrier to integration”
LE QUANG TRUNG
Vietnam Ministry of Labour
There is still time for Asean countries to prepare and sharpen their competitiveness. Nevertheless, the current and more pressing issue is the flow of unskilled or semi-skilled and illegal labourers in the region, which is not mentioned or covered by the AEC.
The issue of migrant labour was brought into sharp focus just last week as tens of thousands of Cambodians fled Thailand in response to rumours about a crackdown on undocumented workers. Thailand’s construction industry was suddenly without a major source of workers, and the country’s military leaders had to act quickly to quell fears of mass deportations. All they wanted to do, they said, was to bring all foreign workers into the system through registration to ensure their rights were better protected.
Malaysia is another major recipient country of cheap migrant labour, mainly from Indonesia, for its rubber plantations and household work. According to an Asian Development bank report, 93% of the foreign workers in Malaysia are semi-skilled or unskilled, and 63% have primary education or less.
Travelling to Thailand for tourism purposes and then overstaying illegally in order to work is becoming more prevalent among unskilled workers from Vietnam. The lack of work and low wages in their home communities are the main reasons they seek better incomes elsewhere.
Thailand is seen as an ideal destination for migrant workers because it is not far from Vietnam, transport is easy, and they don’t have to pay a lot to brokers, unlike those who travel to Malaysia or Angola, two other popular choices for overseas work.
“There are a lot of job opportunities for unskilled workers in Thailand like dishwashing, tailoring, vehicle repair, housemaids or waiters, and so on” says Nguyen Xuan T, 25, from Ha Tinh province in central Vietnam.
Although they have to work around 12 hours per day, they still want to stay since they earn about 10 million Vietnamese dong (about 15,200 baht) per month – an almost impossible sum for someone with similar skills back in Vietnam.
However, because of their illegal status, they don’t have social protection or health insurance and can be expelled whenever they get caught. Moreover, a large concentration of illegal workers creates problems for local authorities.
Ultimately, Asean member countries will be the decision-makers about what kinds of workers will be able to move freely across borders, and how they can all work together to close economic development gaps.