Abstract. Hai Phong city has a relatively abundant labor resources with many
advantages in terms of education and professional qualifications. However, Hai
Phong’s labor force is still quite limited and does not really meet the requirements
of dynamic development of the city. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of the
labor force with the strengths and weaknesses, changes and movement in the past
is important to contribute to the efficient use of these important resources for the
development of human resources and the development of the economy.
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HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2017-0049
Social Sci., 2017, Vol. 62, Iss. 5, pp. 175-183
This paper is available online at
LABOR RESOURCES IN HAI PHONG CHARACTERISTICS
AND CHANGES IN THE PERIOD OF 1999-2015
To Thi Hong Nhung
Faculty of Geography, Hanoi National University of Education
Abstract. Hai Phong city has a relatively abundant labor resources with many
advantages in terms of education and professional qualifications. However, Hai
Phong’s labor force is still quite limited and does not really meet the requirements
of dynamic development of the city. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of the
labor force with the strengths and weaknesses, changes and movement in the past
is important to contribute to the efficient use of these important resources for the
development of human resources and the development of the economy.
Keywords: Labor resources, Hai Phong, labor force.
1. Introduction
Labor is considered as the most important resources for the socio-economic growth
and development. Hai Phong is a relatively crowded city, with abundant labor resources.
In recent years, the labor resources (the proportion of the working age population, who
are able to work and employed persons outside the working age) and the labor force (a
major part of the labor resources, include employed persons aged 15 and over and the
unemployed persons in the reference period) of Haiphong has changed considerably and
has contributed to the growth and development of the city. However, the contribution of
labor factor to economic growth in Hai Phong is generally low, and labor resources are still
limited and do not meet the requirements of the development. In fact, there were not many
researches in this field in Haiphong, and almost focused on one part of Haiphong’s labor
resources: human resources in science and technology, such as: [6], [8]. . . Therefore,
analyzing the characteristics and evaluating the strengths and limitations of Hai Phong
labor force is an important and urgent need.
2. Content
2.1. The size of the labor resources
With a population of over 1.96 million people (2015), ranking second in the Red
River Delta and seventh in the country; with the population growth rate of 0.9%; the
Received date: 1/12/2016. Published date: 3/5/2017.
Contact: To Thi Hong Nhung, e-mail: tohongnhungtnt@gmail.com
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To Thi Hong Nhung
population aged 15 and over accounts for 77.5%, and is in the period of "golden population
structure" like the general trend of the whole country, therefore it can be said that currently
Hai Phong has a relatively abundant labor resourrces, with over 1.3 million people,
accounting for 66.6% of the total population in the city.
Table 1. Population and labor resources, labor force of Hai Phong 1999 – 2015
1999 2005 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Population
(thousand)
1,672.4 1,791.7 1,837.2 1,857.8 1,879.8 1,904.1 1,925.2 1,946.0 1,963.3
Labor resources 1,023.1 1,227.9 1,277.4 1,302.3 1,312.1 1,315.1 1,333.1 1,318.9 1,307.5
-% compared to
population
61.2 68.5 69.5 70.1 69.8 69.1 69.0 67.8 66.6
Labor force 842.9 980.9 1,016.7 1,085.3 1,088.0 1,089.0 1,125.6 1,127.7 1,128.1
-% compared to
population
50.4 54.0 55.3 58.4 57.9 57.2 58.5 57.9 57.5
(Source: calculated from data of Haiphong Statistics Office, [1, 2, 4])
Over the past decade and a half, the size and proportion of Hai Phong’s labor force
has changed dramatically. The size of the labor force continues to increase but the pace
is slowing down and this trend seems to have stopped in 2014, ending the momentum of
continuous rise. In particular, the change in density can be seen more clearly and earlier.
Haiphong’s labor force occupies more than 2/3 of the total population of the city, and
is always on the rise because this is the result of the transition from the previous high
population growth period with increasing population entering the working age, until 2010.
But since 2011, the trend has reversed with the proportion decreased: in 2011, it was 70%,
by 2015 it was only 66.6%. This can be explained by two reasons: the number of people
entering working age increases slowly due to the decrease in fertility and population
growth rates; and the increase of over-working age groups. The results show that although
Hai Phong’s labor force is still relatively abundant in scale, it has gradually declined in
proportion, and has shown signs of aging along with the aging trend of the population in
general, which has become apparent. These factors will inevitably affect the city’s labor
force in the near future.
Of the 1.3 million people in the labor resources in Hai Phong, about 1.13
million people participate in economic activity (labor force), accounting for 86.9%. The
remaining 13.1% are non-economic activity participants such as housewives, students or
those who have no need for work ... Haiphong labor force, in terms of scale in the area
The Red River Delta, ranked third after Hanoi and Nam Dinh, occupies 9.4% of the labor
force of the entire Red River Delta.
Thus, labor force in Hai Phong accounts for 57.5% of the population. The
population participating in economic activities continues to grow in volume during the
period 1999 - 2015, as it remains one of the important growth poles of the Northern
dynamic economic region, which creates jobs for local workers and attracts migrant
workers. However, Hai Phong’s labor productivity growth has slowed down in recent
years. Generally, Hai Phong’s labor force growth rate is moderate and relatively stable,
with an increase of 1.8% per annum between 1999 and 2015.
On spatial distribution, labor resources and labor force in Hai Phong are still
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Labor resources in Hai Phong characteristics and changes in the period of 1999-2015
more concentrated in rural areas, accounting for 57.9%, while urban areas account for
42.1% (2015). This distinction is quite distinct, divided into two distinct dimensions of
population size, labor resources as well as labor force in rural and urban areas. Thus,
although Hai Phong is a national center of grade I, a centrally-run city and relatively
early-formed in comparison with many other cities in Vietnam, more than half of Hai
Phong’s labor is still concentrated in rural areas. Labor force in urban areas tends to
increase but slowly and unstably. The proportion of labor force in urban areas in Hai
Phong in 2015 was lower than that of Ha Noi when Hanoi expanded to Ha Tay (44.6%),
significantly lower than that of Quang Ninh (53.9%) Which is not a centrally-run city like
Hai Phong. Despite the large size of the urban population in Vietnam, the proportion of
urban laborers in particular, Haiphong’s urban population generally has a slower rate of
growth than that of other big cities. If in 2007, the urban population size and urban scale
of Hai Phong were ranked 3rd in the whole country, by 2015, it fell down to fifth. This is
because over the past years, the economic development of Hai Phong associated with the
process of industrialization and urbanization has been slower than some other dynamic
cities and provinces.
2.2. Participation rate of labor force
The rate of participation in labor force in Hai Phong in 2015 was 75.6%, which
is about three quarters of the population aged 15 and above joining the labor force,
lower than the national average of 77.7%. It is noteworthy that this is the opposite trend
in the participation rate of labor force, especially the working age of Hai Phong and
the country. In recent years, the proportion of labor force participation in Viet Nam’s
working age population has been on the downward trend, mainly due to a decrease in the
participation rate of the 15-24 age group, due to economic growth in the period which
has contributed to improving living standards, enabling young people, especially in rural
areas, to have the opportunity to study instead of entering the labor market as early as in
the past. Meanwhile, the proportion of general labor participation and the participation
rate in Hai Phong’s age is on the upward trend. This is explained by the fact that the
population structure and labor resources in Hai Phong have entered an aging phase, the
under-employment rate decreases rapidly while the growth rate of labor resources is still
higher than the population growth rate. The rate of labor participation increases in both
rural and urban areas in Hai Phong. However, in the Red River Delta, which is densely
populated and abundant in the labor force, Hai Phong, with a large labor supply, and a high
and increasing tendency to participate in labor force, has also been encountered abd faced
with many problems, especially the pressure of creating jobs, and particularly providing
decent work for the workers.
Hai Phong’s labor force participation rate varies between men and women. This is
also the general situation of the country.Women can do housework at home, while men are
more likely to be healthier, therefore to have more opportunities for better training, and
they are not the mainstayers in household chores. Labor market for men is also bigger;
The proportion of male housewives in the non-economic activity population is usually
very low. The difference is more noticable in some island districts such as Cat Hai and
some coastal districts (Tien Lang, Kien Thuy, Thuy Nguyen, Do Son) where there is a
high fishing, aquaculture development, which are labor-intensive jobs, and men are also
involved in the craft. However, in recent years, the differences in the proportion of labor
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To Thi Hong Nhung
force participation by sex in general tend to shrink as women have become more and more
engaged in the labor market.
The difference in participation rates of labor force is much more significant in the
rural and urban areas of Hai Phong, which are separated by 12.2 percentage points (2015).
The rate of labor participation compared to the total population of Hai Phong in 2015 was
57.5% but there was a big difference between urban districts and suburban districts. In the
districts of Ngo Quyen, Le Chan, Hai An and Kien An, the rate was only 47% and 48%,
but suburban districts, especially the relatively rural districts such as Kien Thuy, Tien
Lang, Vinh Bao, An Lao, this rate is much higher: 63, 64%. The cause of this difference
is due to the socio-economic conditions between urban and rural areas, rural occupations
are mainly in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and handicraft villages. There are still people
in the school age group and many older people (over 60 years old) are still involved in
labor, contributing considerably to income generation for the family.While in urban areas,
people have the opportunity to lengthen their time to study, enter the labor market later,
the number of people engaged in economic activity is concentrated in adulthood, and they
are often rested, less engaged in labor. Therefore, among the districts of the city, the rate
of joining the labor force also differs from the general trend of increasing from the urban
districts to the coastal, remote and island areas. However, the gap between urban and rural
areas and between Haiphong’s regions is also on the downward trend.
2.3. Labor structure
Regarding gender structure, Haiphong’s labor force is relatively balanced between
men and women.
Table 2. Hai Phong labor force classified by sex 1999 - 2015
1999 2005 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015
Male 50.5 51.2 51.1 50.7 50.1 49.3 49.4 50.5
Female 49.5 48.8 48.9 49.3 49.9 50.7 50.6 49.5
(Source: Calculated from Haiphong Statistics Office, [1, 2, 4])
Over the period 1999 - 2015, the labor force structure by sex of the city also changed
considerably. At times, the strengths of Hai Phong were heavy industries that were suitable
for men, such as shipbuilding, metallurgy, cement production ... so it attracted many male
workers, like other neighboring provinces such as Thai Binh, Hai Duong ... so male labor
force prevailed over women. In the recent years, in parallel with the narrowing process
of these industries, the diversification of services, the development of industrial zones
attracting female workers, has also changed the proportion. In addition, women are also
increasingly engaged in the labor market.
Table 3. Hai Phong labor force structured by age group 1999 - 2015
Age group 1999 2005 2009 2015
Aged 15 – 24 19.3 18.2 17.3 11.0
Aged 25 – 54 73.8 74.2 72.4 69.5
55+ 6.9 7.6 10.3 19.5
(Source: Calculated from Haiphong Statistics Office, [1, 2, 4])
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Labor resources in Hai Phong characteristics and changes in the period of 1999-2015
The age structure of Haiphong labor force in 2015 shows that young workers (15 to
24 years old) make up the least proportion because many are still schooling and not yet
participating in the labor market. At the main working age (25 to 54 years), accounting for
69.5% of labor force, there is a fairly even distribution of the proportion between groups.
The age structure of labor force is also an indicator that Hai Phong’s labor force shows
signs of aging.
Statistics show that the proportion of youngworkers (15 - 24 years old) in Hai Phong
accounts for 11.0% of total labor force, lower than 14.8%while the 55+ group accounts for
19.5% , Higher than the country’s 15.9%. The proportion of young laborers in Haiphong
decreased rapidly: 8.3 percentage points from 1999 to 2015, while labor productivity
increased by 55.6% over the same period: 12.6 percentage points. In particular, the
decrease in the labor force participation rate and the increase in the proportion of
55+ workers in recent years are much faster than in the previous period: over the last
half-decade (2009 - 2015), the proportion of youth laborers decreased To 6.3% whereas
in the previous decade the decrease was only 2%. The increase in the proportion of 55+
workers is similar: 2009 - 2015 increased by 9.2%, while the period longer than before
(1999-2009) was only 3.4%. The main labor force in the 25-54 age group also decreased
continuously in proportion. This again reflects the age structure of Haiphong’s population
in general. In general, labor force in particular is aging rather quickly, faster than the
national average. Of course, young workers declined sharply in proportion because of
the undeniable importance of the economy: the economy has developed and the living
standard has been increased, therefore the young people are trained more and more
carefully for the future and enter the labor market later.
There is a difference in the distribution of labor force by age group between rural
and urban areas, especially in the 55+ age group, the difference up to 9.5 percentage
points indicates that urban workers leave the labor force earlier, less engaged in the labor
market at the end of working age. Similarly, by sex, young workers in Hai Phong do not
have much difference in the proportion between men and women but to 55+, the gap has
widened towards female workers. That is because many older female workers are still
working and want to work, and they are easier than men to accept working conditions to
continue to get a job and income to support their family.
Table 4. Age group structure of Hai Phong labor force classified
by sex and by urban - rural, in 2015 (%)
Aged 15-24 Aged 25-54 55+
Urban areas 9.8 76.2 14.0
Rural areas 11.8 64.7 23.5
Male Labor force 11.4 70.7 17.9
Female Labor force 10.6 68.2 21.2
(Source: calculated from Haiphong statistics Office)
2.4. Education level
In terms of education level, the statistics show that Hai Phong has a relatively
high level of education compared with the whole country. However, compared to the,
the level of differences is not high because most of the provinces in the Red River Delta
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To Thi Hong Nhung
put emphasis on studying. The literacy rate of people aged 10 and above in Hai Phong is
still on the upward trend and remains high (from 2010, the Statistics Institution does not
investigate this indicator as the whole country has a relatively high number) [5].
The illiteracy rate of laborers in Hai Phong is very low (0.5%). The percentage
of laborers who have not or just completed primary schools is not high. Most of the
untrained workers are qualified from upper secondary or higher. And the rate of workers
merely completing the general education curriculum tends to decrease rapidly to make
room for the completion of professional education programs such as vocational training,
vocational training to college or further. However, the exception is that the pre-school and
under-graduated rates tend to increase slightly, but these components account for a small
proportion of the educational level of Hai Phong’s workers.
Table 5. Education level of Hai Phong labor force in the period of 1999 - 2015 (%)
1999 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Out of school rate
Hai Phong 4.2* 2.1 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.3
Red River Delta 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.6
Vietnam 4.6 4.3 4.0 3.9 3.3 3.7 3.5
Percentage of people who have not completed primary school
Hai Phong - 6.4 2.6 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.7 3.1
Red River Delta 5.5 3.8 3.3 3.4 2.2 3.1 3.2
Vietnam 13.7 11.6 11.9 11.6 9.8 11.2 11.2
Primary completion rate
Hai Phong 13.0 14.5 10.4 10.8 12.4 12.9 12.7 12.9
Red River Delta 16.2 12.7 12.3 12.5 10.7 11.6 12.1
Vietnam 27.6 25.4 24.4 24.5 23.6 23.6 23.7
Secondary school graduation rate
Hai Phong 43.9 38.0 43.8 42.2 37.2 37.1 35.8 33.3
Red River Delta 41.6 44.8 45.1 42.3 40.8 41.4 40.6
Vietnam 28.5 31.3 31.5 30.7 31.0 30.2 29.9
High school graduation rate +
Hai Phong 38.9 39.0 42.9 44.1 47.0 46.4 47.3 50.4
Red River Delta 35.9 37.9 38.7 41.2 45.9 43.4 43.5
Vietnam 25.6 27.4 28.2 29.3 32.3 31.3 31.7
(Source: Calculated from Haiphong Statistics Office, [ 2, 3, 4, 9, 10]); * Including those who
have not yet completed primary school; in 1999: educational attainment of the population
aged 13 years and over; since 2009: education level of population aged 15 and above.
The educational level of Haiphong labor force differs between urban and rural areas
and urban districts, but in general the difference is not significant.
2.5. Technical qualification
In terms of technical qualifications, in general, labor force in Hai Phong is also
considered high comparable to the general level of the country.
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Labor resources in Hai Phong characteristics and changes in the period of 1999-2015
Table 6. Percentage of trained employed workers in the period 1999 – 2015
1999 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Hai Phong 16.2 20.3 22.4 23.8 24.5 27.7 28.5 32.4
Red River Delta 10.6 19.4 21.0 21.5 24.5 29.8 26.8 27.2
Vietnam 7.9 13.3 14.6 15.7 16.9 20.4 18.7 19.4
(Source: Calculated from Haiphong Statistics Office, [2, 3, 4, 9, 10]
1999: calculated for the population aged 13 and above)
The rate of trained employed workers of the city in 2015 was 32.4%, quite high
compared to 19.6% of the country. This is because Hai Phong is a large city, one of the
training centers of the country, so education and training are highly emphasized, people
themselves are aware of the investment in education, improving the educational level to
get a job and better income. The quality of workforce and the level of training are thus
gradually upgraded to meet market requirements.
In the period 1999 - 2015, the level of Haiphong labor force was improved
significantly. The number of trained workers tended to increase in both size and
proportion. In terms of size, trained laborers in Hai Phong increased from 113.8 thousand
in 1999 to 365.5 thousand in 2015, more than three times higher, while the proportion also
increased by 18.9 percentage points in the same period. The proportion of trained labor
force in Hai Phong in 2015 was 32.4%, slightly higher than the Red River Delta (27.2%)
and significantly higher: 12.