Female workers of Thai Binh northern province’s Job Services Centre didn’t know how to react to regulation that all workers have to take afternoon exercise at the office building’s gym after working time. If they don’t obeyed the strict rules, each violator will be fined VND15,000 (22 cents) per day. All workers have to abide by the regulation including when feeding an infant or feeling ill, except that he/she has doctor’s prescription. The rule, set up one year ago by the Labour Union of the Centre, under the Thai Binh Province’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Department aimed to help workers improve their health condition, a Labour Union official explained.…
Japan helps Vietnam build safe nuclear power plants
Ninh Thuan (VNA) – Japan will help Vietnam build nuclear power plants in the central province of Ninh Thuan with the highest level of international safety standards. Japan will also support human resources training as well as safe and effective operation of nuclear power plants, Japanese Counsellor to Vietnam Nakajima Yoshito said at a workshop in Ninh Thuan on November 12. After resuming the provision of official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in 1993, Japan sealed a project to upgrade the Da Nhim hydropower plant and implemented several projects to improve small-scale infrastructure and North-South railway, in Ninh Thuan, he said. Japan is currently a strategic partner of Vietnam in…
HCM City to reduce staff by 14,000 by 2021
HCM City plans to reduce its white-collar employees by 14,000 by 2021, according to a municipal Interior Affairs Department plan. The plan aims at restructuring the number of employees at State-and Government-owned agencies, as well as attracting more talented people to work for the agencies. The plan also seeks to increase the capability and effectiveness of the State- and Government-owned agencies and reform the salary system. The workforce reduction will also eliminate unqualified staff, who are seen as diminishing the effectiveness of the currently cumbersome systems. At present, the city has 56 administrative agencies and nearly 1,700 State-owned offices. This year, the municipal authority has approved a quota on employees…
Weak English skills hinder local employees
VietNamNet Bridge – A Navigos Search report entitled Challenges in Recruiting and Retaining Mid-level and Senior Employees for Foreign Firms in Vietnam published on November 3 has revealed that even though local employees are considered hard-working, they have trouble with English. The report is part of a series of surveys conducted in Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Japan by the En World Group, of which Navigos Search is a member. According to the survey, 41% of firms couldn’t recruit enough local employees to fill middle and high-ranking positions in the last 12 months and only 9% were satisfied with the employees’ English skills. In Thailand and Singapore, 52% and 53% also…
Amended law on media expected to allow greater journalistic freedoms
Hanoi (VNA) – The National Assembly on November 4 said some provisions in the draft of the amended law on media still hindered media freedom and asked the drafting committee to ensure the law doesn’t intervene too much in media activities. The comments were made on November 4 by the NA’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children. While saying that draft law has adapted to changes in society to regulate the media’s activities, the committee also asked the drafting committee to study further and make adjustments. For instance, the committee said it was unnecessary for the law to require complicated procedures for attaining media activities licences, which it…