(HCMC, August 6th, 2009) - VietnamWorks.com, the largest online recruitment solution provider in Vietnam,  today released its Online Employment Indicator Report of quarter II/2009. This quarterly review of online labor trends tracked by VietnamWorks.com showed an upward trend of online labor demand which means that there were signs of recovery of the labor market.

The online labor demand index moved with a higher speed than the online labor supply index, showing signs of recovery

Chris Harvey, Managing Director of VietnamWorks.com said: "The online labor indexes of quarter II/2009 demonstrated the "employers' market" with the great availability in supply of labor. However, the online labor demand index moved with a higher speed than the online labor supply index, showing signs of recovery of the labor market". 

Indeed, the online labor demand index of quarter II/2009 increased by 36.8% against quarter I/2009. Of all 50 industries on www.vietnamworks.com, online labor demand indexes of 34 industries showed an increment compared to those of quarter I/2009, while the 16 remaining industries stayed unchanged.

Meanwhile, the online labor supply index of quarter II/2009 continued its upswing and increased by 9.2% compared to that of quarter I/2009. In comparison with quarter I/2009, 26 industries recorded increased online labor supply index, 12 industries remained unchanged, and 12 industries recorded a decrease.

Despite the upward trend in the online labor demand, employers are now more cautious in choosing the right person for their vacancies and the recruitment standards are set at a higher level than ever before. "To some extent, it is a positive trend for the labor market by fostering the professionalism of both employers and job seekers. However, job seekers would find it more difficult to get a suitable job as it has become more and more competitive in the past few months." - said Chris Harvey. He added that this trend promised to continue for months to come.

The labor supply and demand gap narrowed in the majority of industries

In quarter II/2009, the majority of industries showed positive signs. In particular, the gaps between supply and demand of labor narrowed for 34 of 50 industries. "The convergence of supply and demand of labor helped lowered job seekers' stress in these industries, although big gaps still remain and would take time to resolve" - said Chris Harvey.

Sales, Manufacturing, and Marketing recorded the smallest gaps between the labor supply and demand amongst industries which has the highest labor demand indexes in quarter II/2009.  In particular, the labor demand index of Sales increased by 52.4% as compared to quarter I/2009 while its labor supply index increased by 10.4%. The labor demand index of Manufacturing increased by 36.4% compared to quarter I/2009 while its labor supply index decreased by 5.9% compared to the previous quarter.  In addition, the labor demand index of Marketing grew much higher than its online labor supply index (54.5% vs. 7.1%), resulting in more labor demand than supply in this industry.

Top Five Industries with high Labor Supply and Demand

The Top Five Labor Supply and Demand shows the industries in the highest supply and demand among others. In quarter II/2009, the Top Five Industries with high demand included Accounting/Finance, Administrative/Clerical, Engineering, Sales, and IT-Software, of which Sales had the highest online labor demand index with an increase of 52.4% as compared to that of quarter I/2009. The more demand for human resources in the key industries, to a certain extent indicated that more employers need talents to either help them ride out the storm or prepare for the next phase of the economy, when the "storm" has dissipated.

Meanwhile, Accounting/Finance led the Top Five Industries with high labor supply index in quarter II/2009 and increased 25.3% compared to the first quarter of this year. Under Accounting/Finance, in descending order, were Banking/Invest, Administrative/Clerical, Engineering, and Human Resources.

Application Index

According to data tracked by VietnamWorks.com, in the second quarter of 2009, the Top Five industries which had the highest application index were: Administrative/Clerical, Customer Service, Entry Level/Internship, Export-Import, and Human Resources. Of all industries in the list, Administrative/Clerical was the most competitive industry with the index recorded at 11.4. In contrast, Temporary/Contract, Security Service, Agriculture/Forestry, Legal, and Healthcare/Medical were the least competitive industries in quarter II/2009.

In quarter II/2009, the application indexes increased for the majority of localities as categorized by VietnamWorks.com. Among the top ten cities and provinces which had the highest labor demand indexes in quarter II/2009, Ho Chi Minh City was the most competitive while Vinh Phuc was ranked 10^th in competiveness .

About the Online Employment Indicator Report

The VietnamWorks.com's Online Employment Indicator Report is a quarterly review of the online labor supply and demand trends which were tracked on www.vietnamworks.com. The labor supply and demand indexes do not represent the number of jobs and resumes tracked by VietnamWorks.com but they reflect the labor supply and demand trend in specific job industries, levels, and in various regions throughout Vietnam.

About VietnamWorks.com

VietnamWorks.com is the largest online recruitment provider in Vietnam with more than 50,000 people visiting our website every day. VietnamWorks.com has more than 3,000 new jobs every month from biggest companies in Vietnam and the finest resources for career advancement to help jobseekers get their dream jobs. For employers, VietnamWorks.com provides online recruitment solutions and a searchable database containing over 200,000 CVs to help them get right talent to growth their businesses. Our mission is to help jobseekers and companies achieve their dreams.