Doctor of philosophy dissertation abstract: Assessment of factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers in Can Tho City

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
CAN THO UNIVERSITY
--------------------------------

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION ABSTRACT
Major: Agricultural Economics
Code: 9620115

PHAM DUC THUAN

ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE
EMPLOYMENT NEEDS OF RURAL LABORERS
IN CAN THO CITY

Can Tho, 2018


THE PROJECT HAS COMPLETED
IN CAN THO UNIVERSITY

Instructor: Assoc. Prof., Ph.D: Duong Ngoc Thanh

The dissertation is defended to University’s Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation
Examination Council
In: Hall …. Can Tho University
At: …. Hour …..Date….. Month….Year

Reviewer 1:
Reviewer 2:

Find more information about dissertation at:

Can Tho University Learning Resource Center
National Library of Vietnam


LIST OF PUBLISHED PROJECTS

1. Duong Ngoc Thanh and Pham Duc Thuan (2012), Determination advantages
and disadvantages - opportunities and challenges in employment and
apprenticeship of laborers in Can Tho City, No. 47-5+6/2012, Economic
Management Review (CEM), the Ministry of Planning and Investment, pp. 318.
2. Pham Duc Thuan and Duong Ngoc Thanh (2015), Assessment of factors
affecting the job finding ability of rural laborers in Can Tho City, Can Tho
University Journal of Science No. 36c (2015), pp. 97-104.

3. Pham Duc Thuan and Duong Ngoc Thanh (2015), Assessment of factors
affecting the participation in vocational training of rural laborers in Can Tho
City, Can Tho University Journal of Science No. 40d (2015), pp. 83-91.
4. Duong Ngoc Thanh and Pham Duc Thuan (2016), Chapter 3: Shift in the
economic structure, labor, rural employment, Book: “Employment labor and
rural vocational training in the Mekong Delta (status quo and orientation)”, Can
Tho University Publishing House, pp. 36-60.
5. Duong Ngoc Thanh, Pham Duc Thuan and Nguyen Cong Toan (2016), Chapter
7: Experience and orientation solutions for vocational training, job creation in
the process of industrialization and urbanization, Book: “Employment labor
and rural vocational training in the Mekong Delta (status quo and orientation)”,
Can Tho University Publishing House, pp. 131-160.



Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Reasons for selecting the topic
Labor and employment are always one of the most pressing issues in the world,
the concern of all humanity in general and each nation in particular. For each country,
job creation is the basic solution to maintaining political stability and economic
development. In addition, increasing population and urbanization have also led to a
decline in agricultural land, large family narrow house status quo, lack of employment,
which are avoidable. This status quo has been a barrier to the socio-economic
development of each locality and country. The current status quo of labor resources in
the city has not met the need for labor recruitment of enterprises. The need for
recruitment of skilled and highly qualified laborers is increasing. There is a difference
in recruitment needs for sex between male and female laborers, between urban and
rural areas.
In the rural areas in particular and the laborer of the whole city in general, job
creation for laborers is an urgent issue for local government and each level of the city.
Labor and employment pressures are increasing. Employment need for rural laborers
is a current issue. Actually, there are no specific researches on the employment of rural
laborers in the Mekong Delta. The above status quo were chosen for the research topic:
“Assessment of factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers in Can Tho
City”.
1.2 Research objectives
1.2.1 Overall objective
On the basis research, assessment of factors affecting the employment needs for
rural laborers offers proposals for solutions to meet the employment need to rural
laborers. Thereby, it contributes to increase income in accordance with local socioeconomic conditions for rural laborers in the future.
1.2.2 Specific objective
(1) Assessment of the status quo of vocational training and employment of rural
laborers (off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers) in Can Tho City;
(2) Determination and assessment of factors affecting the employment needs of
rural laborers (off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers) in Can Tho City;

(3) Suggestion the solutions to meet the employment needs for rural laborers.
1.3. Scope of research
1.3.1. Contents of research
(1) Description the research status quo of domestic and foreign for employment
needs as a theoretical basis.
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(2) According to the theory, the dissertation gives research model for analyzing
and assessment of the factors affecting the employment needs of laborers in Can Tho
City.
(3) The dissertation described the status quo, vocational training and
employment of rural laborers (off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers) in Can Tho
City;
(4) The dissertation determined the factors affecting the employment needs of
laborers in Can Tho City. From the results of the analysis, it is necessary to propose
important solutions that will help rural laborers meet their employment needs in the
future.
1.3.2. Research subjects
The main research subject of this dissertation is employment needs of the
laborers in rural areas and in Can Tho City. The examined subjects of the dissertation
(on-farm laborers, off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers) are laborers having
suitable age in rural areas who are involved in working in rural areas
1.3.3. Scope, location and time
- For time: collecting background data from 2013 to 2016 and primary data from
2015 to 2016
- For location: researching location of the dissertation in rural areas of Phong
Dien, Thoi Lai, Co Do and Vinh Thanh District where have features about agricultural
production and rural labor source, accounting for 68, 1 % of total rural laborers having
suitable age in Can Tho City.

Chapter 2
OVERVIEW OF REFERENCE
2.1 The concept
2.1.1 Employment needs
Employment needs are the capabilities of the laborers themselves to adapt to the
working environment in order to satisfy their desires for employment or to seek a work
for the employees themselves.
2.1.2 Definition of research subjects
On-Farm is rural laborers who have agricultural land and work on their land
(referred to as on-farm).
Off-farm is rural laborers who work in field of agricultural production, do not
directly produce agriculture on their own land, and are hired to work on other’s land.
Non-farm is rural laborers who work in field of non-agricultural (such as industry,
construction, service, and trade), indirect production in field of agriculture (referred to
as non-farm).

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2.2 Research models for employment search
Research of theories: Family Theory of Howard N. Barnum (1978), Labor supply
of Orazio Attanasio (2004), Theories of farmer hysterical of Frank Ellis (1993),
Theories of job creation for employees of Tuan Xuan Cau and Mai Quoc Khanh (2008),
Choosing the trio - working for money, working at home and rest of Ta Duc Khanh
(2009).
2.3 Experimental results
Inheriting the research: Junior Davis (2006), Diversification of employment and
other beneficial activities of rural famers; Wayne Howard, Michael Swidinsky (2000),
the impacts on the employment of laborers on-farm; Bamlaku A. Alemu, EA Nuppenau
and H. Boland (2008), the access to analytical models of agricultural households in the

agricultural areas in Ethiopia; Tang Minh Tri (2016); Le Nguyen Doan Khoi (2014);
Truong Minh Duc (2011); Hoang Thi Hong Loc and Nguyen Quoc Nghi (2014) on the
employment needs of laborers that is based on the analysis of factor affecting the
employment needs of laborers.
Analysis research by Ho Thi Dieu Anh (2015) indicated that the factors affecting
employment search process of rural laborers in which analyzed the groups of factors
and each factor affecting the employment search of rural laborers.
2.4 Overall assessment for research status
The employment needs of rural laborers, in other words, the need of laborers is
the subject approach of the dissertation. However, the previous research only focused
on analyzing employment need and opportunities of rural laborers as well as the content
of building solutions for rural laborers.
For employment: the research on vocational training and job creation for rural
laborers by the above-mentioned authors showed that educational background has
influenced the job choice of laborers. If laborers have a high level of education, they
will have more opportunities to choose job. Vocational training for laborers plays an
important role in enhancing labor capacity in the period of urbanization. Vocational
training does not meet the actual need of employment, this will not ensure the quality
of employment. It is difficult to find a job after training, to find suitable job for the
ability of labor. Laborers need to find out more information from employment channels
However, the rural laborers do not regularly access recruitment information, do
not participate in employment counseling activities, have not yet found job by
themselves due to limited skills and lack of communication skills. In addition, the
factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers are actual issue and should be
studied and from that, effective solutions are proposed to create jobs for rural laborers
in the development period of Can Tho city.
Research Framework: The inherited research models have not thoroughly
studied for the employment needs of rural laborers and clearly delimited external
factors, factors for the ability affecting the employment needs of rural laborers. As a
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results, collecting researches for factor group and factors affecting employment need
of rural laborers in Can Tho City and creating research framework with 07 factor
groups.
For factor research model: inherit the development of factor groups under (i)
of the research framework and researches for factor model that were mentioned by the
previous authors, specially research model by Ho Thi Dieu Anh (2015) with 3 factor
groups affecting self-employment of rural laborer in Nghe An Provinces as approach,
inheritance and building analysis model for dissertation.
For the model of regression research: the result of regression models was
analyzed, in which the factors affecting the vocational training and employment of rural
laborer such as age, sex, education background , quantity of member in family, income,
etc. that are the basis of inheritance and creation to the analysis method of the
dissertation. Thereby, Research approach by Ho Thi Dieu Anh (2015), Binary Logistic
regression analysis that used binary dependent variables to estimate the probability of
events occurrence with the information of the independent variable ( 0 = no selfemployment; 1 = non-farm self-employment )
Therefore, research of dissertation analyzes carefully employment need of rural
labors (laborers’ desire) for each laborer, off-farm laborer and non-farm laborer. This
is the additional dissertation for previous research, including the following contents:
(1) Researching the capacity, vocational training, employment of rural laborers
(off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers).
(2) Researching the independent factors affecting the employment need of rural
laborers (off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers).
(3) Focusing on solutions that meet the demand for rural laborers in the future.
Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Approach
The approach of the dissertation is to inherit the research of the model on research

framework in Chapter 2 so that the factors affecting employment needs of on-farm
laborers, which are also the scientific argument to build appropriate elements for the
contents in the research framework of the dissertation, become the basis for proposing
solutions to meet the rural labor needs in the coming time.
In order to meet the needs of the job to be sought, the laborers must have the
capacity, qualifications, health, and etc. When the working environment is available,
the laborers shall consider the conditions, update information for career development,
which helps them get higher income and safer. Therefore, inheriting the research model
mentioned in Chapter 2 on Literature review and combining with the research
objectives set out in the dissertation, the research framework of the dissertation is
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generalized on the basis of theory, argument of employment labor and gathering
information to analyze the factors of the employment needs of rural laborers.
3.2. Research Framework
With the implementation of this research framework (Figure 3.1), the dissertation
focuses on how the internal factors of the rural laborers affect their employment needs,
at the same time, the analysis of external factors affecting the job seeking to meet the
needs of rural laborers in Can Tho city.

1. Group of basic biological variables
- Age
- Sex
- Health status
2. Group of capability
- Academic level
- Professional level
- Work experience
3. Group of livelihoods

- Number of dependent people
- Profit (accumulated)
- Unemployment

INTERNAL FACTORS

EMPLOYMENT
1. Group of the socio-economic condition
change
- Economic restructuring
- Labor restructuring
- Education investment
2. Group of business
- Recruitment business
- Salary paid to laborers
- The efficiency of vocational training programs
3. Group of local policies
- Vocational training
- Employment
- Loan
- Employment information
4. Group of Working conditions
- Workplace
- Productive land
- Labor safety

NEEDS

EXTERNAL FACTORS

Figure 3.1: Research theoretical framework of the topic
Source: Summarized and recommended by the author

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The research of the dissertation analyzes the employment needs of rural laborers
(the will of the laborers themselves) for each of the on-farm laborers, off-farm laborers,
and non-farm laborers, which is a thesis supplementing the previous researches,
including the following contents: (i) Research of the capacity, vocational training and
employment of rural laborers (in on-farm, off-farm, and non-farm fields); (ii) Research
of the independent factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers (in onfarm, off-farm, and non-farm fields); (iii) Gathering solutions to meet the employment
needs of rural laborers in the coming time.
3.5 Data collection methodology
- Collection of the secondary data on vocational training, employment, general
policies from departments, localities, and published research documents.
- The primary data is collected by random sampling, the number of observations
is determined by the formula N = 5 * m (where N is the size of minimum observation
number, m is the total number of observation variables) of JF, Anderson, RE, Tatham,
RL, Black, WC (1998). The total number of observations is 530, of which 210 are onfarm laborers, 110 are off-farm laborers, 210 are non-farm laborers.
3.6 Data Analysis Methodology
3.6.1 Analysis of the employment need satisfaction of the on-farm laborers
Approach: The approach of the thesis is to apply the Exploratory Factor Analysis
(EFA) theory to measure the factors that affect the employment needs of rural laborers.
From the research of Ho Thi Dieu Anh (2015), self-employment of rural laborers
influenced by family factors, family relationships with other households, neighbors,
and resident community, which is the impact on the ability to start a business in nonfarm field of rural laborers, the scale as follows: not important, important, average,
very important, extremely important, is used as the basis for researching, analyzing,
accessing the factors that affect the employment needs as well as the scientific basis to
analyze which factor affects influence the employment needs of rural laborers and an

argument to propose the solutions to meet the employment needs of on-farm labor in
the coming time.
Based on this, the analytical research model used Cronbach's Alpha reliable
coefficient analysis using the Likert scale according to the scale theory of AH Maslow's
(1932), with five levels of opinion on the satisfaction of rural laborers regarding
employment needs: 1 = Disagree Strongly; 2 = Disagree Moderately; 3 = Disagree
Slightly; 4 = Agree; 5 = Agree Strongly.
3.6.2 Analysis of the factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers
For the approach of the regression analysis model, to measure the factors having
employment needs according to the model of Wayne Howard, Michael Swidinsky
(2000), and to measure the factors affecting employment needs of the rural laborers,
use the analysis models of agricultural households in the agricultural zones in Etiopia
of Bamlaku A. Alemu, E-A Nuppenau and H. Boland (2008), including 05 main
independent variables and 15 minor independent variables; Richard J. Smith and
Richard W. Blundell (1986) Household income factor affecting employment; Agnes
C. Rola and Ian Coxhead (2003), David Stifel (2010) the analysis of the factors
affecting employment of the rural laborers in agricultural and non-agricultural fields.
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In the research approach of Ho Thi Dieu Anh (2015), Binary Logistic regression
analysis use binary dependent variables to estimate the probability of event occurrence
(0= non-self-employment, 1= non-farm self-employment), 13 independent variables
were found.
k

k

j

j

Pi
P (Y = 1)
) = Ln [
] α + ∑ βi X i + ∑ γj Dj + ui
Ln (
1 − Pi
P (Y = 0) 0
Based on this, the Binary Logistic Model is used, and the dependent variable is
whether the laborers have or do not have employment needs, the dependent variable Y
now has two value, Y = 1: there is an employment need (finding / getting a new job,
etc); Y = 0: there is no employment need (stable employment - do not want to change).
The general theoretical regression model is of the form:
k

k

j

j

Pi
P (Y = 1)
) = Ln [
] α + ∑ βi X i + ∑ γj Dj + ui
Ln (
1 − Pi
P (Y = 0) 0
Where: Ln (

Pi
1−Pi

)

is the log odds ratio, this ratio is a linear function of the

explanatory variables X and Dj.
For P (Y = 1) = P0: Probability in case the laborers have employment needs (in
terms of the employment needs in on-farm, off-farm, and non-farm fields);
P (Y = 0) = 1-P0: Probability in case the laborers do not have employment needs
(in terms of the employment needs in on-farm, off-farm, and non-farm fields);
k

k

j

j

P0
) = α0 + ∑ βi X i + ∑ γj Dj + ui
Ln (
1 − P0

Next, Cross-Tabulation is analyzed to identify and analyze the factors affecting
the employment needs of rural laborers according to each subject. According to
Wagner A. Kamakura and Michel Wedel (1997), this analysis is used to test whether
the two factors have any relationship in general, which is the type of independent test.

Chi-square test (χ2- Chi-square) is suitable when the two researched factors are
discrete qualitative variable or discrete quantitative variable.
Assumptions in the test are as follows:
H0: there is no relationship between variables (independent).
H1: there are relationships between variables (dependent).

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The Chi-square test value (χ2- Chi-square) in the analysis results will provide the
test significance level (P-Value). If the significance level is less than or equal to the
original significance level (0.05), the test is absolutely significant. In other words, the
hypothesis of H0 is refuted, which means the variables are interrelated. On the contrary,
the variables are not interrelated.
Chapter 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Situation of vocational training of rural laborers
The survey data is based on the laborers attending vocational training and issued
with a vocational certificate by a competent authority. The result showed that 61.7%
of rural laborers were provided with vocational training, most rural on-farm laborers
had low academic level, mostly primary level with very few laborers receiving
intermediate and college level training. However, there are some difficulties when the
laborers participate in vocational training: the inability to get jobs after training, limited
number of individual subjects to receive vocational training, inadequate training fields,
low training quality, overly focusing on theory lesson rather than practice, and high
tuition.
The reasons why the vocational training for rural laborers is ineffective, accounting
for 22.7%,: (1) on-farm laborers believed that the main reason was due to the vocational
training's inadequate ability to meet the need of the local, inadequate training time, overly
focusing on theory lesson, the difference between the theory and reality, the low level of

apprehension of some individuals, the inability of the poor to attend long-term training
course; (2) the off-farm laborers supposed that they are not able to get a job after
vocational training; (3) the non-farm laborers believed that it was due to the lack of
practical equipment, overly focusing on theory, inadequate training time, inability to get
a job after vocational training.
In addition, the local authorities have not surveyed the labor needs at the locality
and the ability to satisfy of the rural laborers; the vocational training of the locality is
also passive (training based on the planned targets); the number and level of rural labors
are not suitable (the training list has sufficient number of participants but the specific
classes are not arranged according to level); there is not enough information on
vocational training in the localities (information is only provided on the notice board
of the commune or ward).
4.2 Employment situation of rural laborers
According to the survey data on the employment situation, the percentage of the
employed laborers in rural areas is 49.79%. The majority of on-farm laborers
developing farming are having a stable job. Because of having a lot of experience in
farming and creating income for themselves and their families, they develop their
family’s traditional production and when they have free time, they change to some
other jobs according to their abilities.
As for the occupation of the rural laborers, the number of the off-farm laborers
accounts for a low rate and the off-farm laborers developing farming are planning to
change their job, seeking and waiting for a new job. Due to the seasonality of the offfarm job, agricultural leisure time, and landlessness, the laborers have to find another
job to increase their income.
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As for non-farm labor, the service sector in the non-farm areas is mainly
developed by the well-off households (trading in fertilizers, retailing at home) or the
service sectors related to agriculture – fishery. Besides, there is a not-so-small number
of individuals working as housewives and a small number working as non-farm

laborers (official, service, retailing). The non-farm laborers want to change their job to
have a better income than it of the previous job.
4.3 The status quo of the employment needs of rural laborers
With the need of improving personal income and the influences of the
urbanization on their incomes, the laborers had to take the initiative, seek for additional
jobs or switch from their current job to another one to ensure the life of themselves and
their family.
For on-farm laborers and laborers who need to improve their income on their
own land, it was necessary to use more technical skills such as plant breeding (fruit
trees, rice) and livestock (cows and pigs), aquacultural techniques (crayfish, fish),
agricultural product preservation (fruits and vegetables) after harvest, techniques for
growing safe vegetables, and fruit trees protection. The works of on-farm laborers
directly involved with agricultural production, accounting for 40.1%. These were the
main laborers in the family. They mostly raised livestock and produced rice as they
made use of their experiences and applied production techniques obtained through the
training courses organized by the local authorities to generate income from products
on their land. In addition, since most on-farm laborers only had primary or secondary
educational level, they still had the needs of working in agricultural production. The
reasons for the employment needs amongst on-farm laborers were due to low current
income (12.4%), the desire of changing their life (12.0%), the need to diversify income
sources for the family (10.3%), the hope to live and work near their home (14,1%).
Off-farm laborers had pretty high employment need (89.1%) as most of them
had little or did not have production land, were old, had low academic levels, and were
used to manual jobs. However, some of these laborers had the need to change to work
as off-farm laborers for enterprises and large-scale agricultural production facilities
with large areas, less tough working conditions, without professional requirements and
giving them more benefits (health insurance, bonus, appropriate rest time,…) The main
reasons for the employment needs of the off-farm laborers were to make use of spare
time (12.1%), due to the current hardships in family life (12.4%), and the need to
diversify income sources for the family (25.3%). Most of the off-farm laborers were

manual laborers working seasonally. As most rural off-farm laborers were old (with
34.5% aging from 51-60), they still had the need to work as off-farm laborers in
agricultural production. In addition, because young laborers mostly worked for
enterprises or in industrial parks, off-farm laborers were able to received higher income
and remained employed throughout the season, especially during the production and
harvesting periods when there was a high demand for off-farm laborers (for rice
harvesting, pesticide spraying, tillage, fertilizing, water-pumping, etc.). The average
income of the off-farm laborer group was approximately over 2 million dongs/month
but mostly in the main production season. The income was lower when the production
season was over.
As for non-farm laborers, the need to find and change to new jobs accounted for
87.1%. At present and in the near future, the process of industrialization and
urbanization continues to develop strongly, together with the inevitably of labor
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restructuring from agriculture to non-agricultural sectors (industry, construction,
trading, and service). As a result, the current demand for vocational training is nonagriculture oriented and the employment need will be higher including jobs in trading
- service (small business, cell phone repair, makeup, hairdressing, household sewing,
cooking, restaurant staff, etc.); jobs in industry sector (car repair, motorcycle repair,
welding, lathing, agricultural and industrial machine repair, electronics, civil
electricity, refrigeration, industrial electrical repairs, automobile driving, etc.); jobs in
cottage industry and handicrafts (weaving from hyacinth, plastic, making conical leaf
hat, mat weaving, high-grade handicrafts); jobs in construction and other jobs
(carpentry, art carpentry, interior decoration, informatics, marketing and sales). The
primary reasons for the employment needs of non-farm laborers were low current
income (14.8%), the need to find a more stable job (13.9%), due to the current
hardships in family life (11.9%), and the need to diversify income sources for the
family (13.7%).
The reasons for no need of jobs amongst on-farm laborers were that they already

had good jobs with stable salary (15.8%), investment capital (13.7%), and experiences
(12.4%). In terms of off-farm laborers, it was because they already had good jobs with
stable salary (25.4%) and due to high professional requirements (18.2%). As for nonfarm laborers, the reasons was their preference for the current job (13.5%), due to their
family’s available traditional work (25.3%), and because their family had land for
productions (17.5%). The survey also showed that the laborers had a need for work and
soon got jobs after the establishment of cooperation between the vocational training and
job referral centers of the districts and the training businesses to train laborers according
to the demand for labor recruitment. For the remaining occupational groups such as
industry (construction, mechanics, refrigeration mechanics, industrial electronics, civil
electricity, etc.), laborers personally sought for the job on their own, so they had low and
unstable opportunity of finding a job. The cottage industry and handicrafts (hyacinth
weaving, plastic bag weaving, beadwork, mat weaving, rattan chair weaving, etc.)
existed because most female labors often made use of their free time to generate more
income for their family.
Procedure of employment change: laborers in rural areas now have many
factors (the process of forming new urban areas, gradually transforming agricultural
land into land with special use, industrial land and land for trade and services) directly
affecting laborers (most of the agricultural land is shrinking, the transformation of labor
force structure from agriculture to industry - construction, commerce and services),
which leads to an increase in the laborers’ needs for job change and laborers'
willingness to change and adapt to the needs of life and local changes. For on-farm
laborers, agricultural production in rural areas is often seasonal and depends on natural
conditions. As a result, the employment change of on-farm laborers was mainly
changing job to suit the capacity and skills of themselves (12.6%), investment in
agricultural production (80.3%); for the employment change of off-farm laborers, they
mainly selected occupations with higher income (choice of occupations with higher
income %); for the employment change of non-farm laborers, they mainly look for new
occupations (18.1%), and occupations with higher income (34.3%).

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4.3 Analysis of factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers (EFA)
The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) technique was used to analyze the
factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers, from the assessment of the
local economic conditions and policies affecting employment of rural laborers, with
research subjects: on-farm laborer, off-farm laborer, and non-farm laborer.
The used scale was as follows:
1= Strongly disagree; 2= Disagree; 3= Slightly agree;
4= Agree; 5= Strongly agree
The variables involved in factor analysis included:
X1 = Age
X2 = Sex
X3 = Health status
X4 = Academic level
X5 = Professional level
X6 = Working experience
X7 = Number of dependents
X8 = Profit
X9 = Unemployment
X10 = Structural change in economy
X11 = Structural change in labor force

X12 = Investment in education
X13 = Laborer recruitment
X14 = Salary paid to laborers
X15 = Effectiveness of vocational
training programs
X16 = Vocational training
X17 = Employment

X18 = Loans
X19 = Employment information
X20 = Place of work
X21 = Land for production
X22 = Labor safety

An analysis of internal and external factors affecting the employment needs of
on-farm laborers was conducted to clarify the opinions of the laborers themselves on
meeting the requirements of employment in the future, including internal and external
groups of factors (with 22 independent variables):
- Group of basic biological group, including 03 determined factors (age, sex,
health status);
- Group of capability, including 03 determined factors (academic level,
professional level, working experience);
- Group of livelihoods, including 03 determined factors (number of dependents,
profit, unemployment);
- Group of Changes in socio-economic conditions and policies, including 07
factors (structural changes in economy, structural changes in labor force, investment in
education, vocational training, employment, loans and employment information);
- Group of enterprises and working conditions, including 06 factors (enterprise
recruiting laborers, salary paid to laborers, effectiveness of vocational training
programs, place of work, land for production and labor safety).
 For on-farm laborers
- The majority of the working age was concentrated in the age group of 31-40,
accounting for 24.7%, this was the age group deciding more boldly in the development
of the household economy.
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- There were no differences between men and women in agricultural production

and directly working on their land;
- The on-farm laborers were healthy (95% or more), a few were old, sick and
could not work, to handle manual work.
- Educational and professional level: Most of the on-farm laborers’ education
levels were primary and secondary, so the work of on-farm laborers was mostly on
their lands, and they did not have needs to improve their level.
- With the experience of working in rural areas, on-farm laborers (over 10 years
of experience, accounting for 65.2%) were mainly people in rural areas with land
resources, because they could still generate income, they have sticked to the
agricultural production.
- The dependents were mainly people who have not yet reached the working age
and the weak elders, accounting for a low proportion in the family of laborers. This
was one of the burdens for the main laborer in the household.
- The source of income was the motivation for the laborers to seek employment
(with the needs for jobs) to earn more, and the laborers would continue to invest more
in agricultural production (according to the survey results, the average income of
laborers in the researched area was 1-3 million VND/month).
- Most of the on-farm laborers were having a job and planned to change (30.5%),
so they also had the need to work during their free time.
- The structural change in economy and labor force affecting the change in
employment of on-farm laborers was mainly the change in occupation in accordance
with individual capacity and skills (12.6%), and investment in agricultural production
(80.3%).
- Policies on investment in education, vocational training, employment, and
loans created conditions for on-farm laborers to find jobs more easily, increase their
incomes and improve their lives.
In summary, the above-mentioned internal and external factors affected the
employment and income of on-farm laborers in rural areas, most of whom worked in
agriculture on their own land, near their houses, or in the hamlet, which was the
condition for laborers to use their land resources and experience effectively,

contributing to improving the efficiency of agricultural production and increasing
income for laborers. However, one of the burdens for the main laborer of the household
was the high number of dependents (mainly: housewife, student, children,
unemployment, people lost their labor and laborers under 15 and over 60 years old), it
was a difficulty manage daily activities of households.
 For off-farm laborers
- The majority of the working age was concentrated in the age group of 41-50
years (65%), according to the survey, because recently rural areas have been under the
influence of urbanization, the majority of laborers shifted to non-farm employment to
have high income and be able to work throughout the year, while most of rural offfarm laborers worked seasonally and were old laborers.
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- The proportion of off-farm laborers with low academic level was high, and
they had no needs for training to improve their qualifications and few lands for
agricultural production. Therefore, they had needs to work in accordance with their
experiences in agricultural production for earning for their living.
- The major income of off-farm laborers was mainly from manual and seasonal
work, they also worked for other income generating activities such as cultivation and
animal husbandry in the small scale of their households; participating in non-farm
occupations. The off-farm laborers had no fixed remuneration, so their income was not
stable. Therefore, the income from off-farm work was as high as that from non-farm
work.
- The off-farm laborers were always unemployed when they could not find jobs
in agricultural production. Because agricultural production was seasonal, so in idle time
they always looked for other jobs (non-farm) to have income. Most of the off-farm
laborers had no land for production.
- The off-farm laborers had low qualifications and difficult family conditions,
so their participation in vocational training policy was limited. The trained occupation
is mainly tractor drivers. In addition, vocational training for rural laborers was

ineffective, accounting for 20.7% of the total, of which the majority of the agricultural
laborers claimed that they were unable to find a job after training.
- Based on the observation results, in terms of the nature of the work, the
laborers chose different places of work, the off-farm laborers were concentrated in the
area near their houses (or in the commune) to work, which minimized their expenses
on daily travel and activities.
In summary, most of the off-farm laborers had no land for production of a few
of land, so they had a lot of idle time to participate in agricultural production based on
health, age, experience in agricultural production, production conditions, and so on, to
have income to solve the necessary expenses in daily life.
 For non-farm laborers
- In the non-farm labor force, the age group of 31-50 years old accounted for a
higher proportion (31.4%) than other age groups, as the majority of laborers were
senior laborers in business facilities or companies or employed in non-farm sectors.
The non-farm laborers had the stable income.
- Non-farm female laborers were concentrated in the localities (small traders,
hat maker, water hyacinth – knitting workers, hairdressers, workers, and so on), while
non-farm male laborers had jobs as follows: workers, ironworkers, bricklayers, porters,
traders, etc. Through surveys, the majority of the young workforce was concentrated
in the non-farm sector,

13


- Non-farm laborers also had low academic levels, so in the future, they would
have the need to improve their qualifications to seek jobs with a stable income.
According to the survey, local non-farm laborers had a very low academic level (grade
1: 28%, grade 2: 33.5% and grade 3: 23%) in comparison with the needs of recruitment
of enterprises having high technological applications.
- Main occupations of non-farm laborers were small traders, traders of

agricultural materials, garment workers, and so on, adapting to the economic conditions
in their localities.
- The number of main laborers in each household was from 1 to 2 persons and
the number of dependents was at least 1 to 2 persons (mainly children in school age).
As a consequence, the expenses in the family have also increased, putting more
pressure on finding employment to secure the income of rural non-farm laborers.
- Main income is from a variety of non-farm work such as seasonal income,
monthly salary, daily wage or product pay. The survey results showed the variety of
non-farm jobs, so the average income of non-farm laborers is 2-3 million VND/month.
- Due to the nature of jobs and low salary for their livelihoods, according to the
survey, about 20% of the laborers thought that they were having unstable jobs and
incomes; the causes for non-farm laborers were low salaries, working away from home,
occupational diseases / hazardous working environments (due to the low qualifications
of laborers and most of the occupations were employed work);
- In the process of urbanization, the development of industrial zones and socioeconomic development orientation have had many direct effects on the laborers and
solved most of the local employment. There were many employment options, the
income of laborers was more stable than that of off-farm laborers, laborers had
conditions and opportunities for vocational training, local enterprises (inside and
outside of industrial zones) had needs for recruiting laborers from 18-35 years old,
mainly for general laborers, which helped them to access jobs, and contribute to
reducing unemployment in the locality.
- Most of the non-farm laborers without experience have been re-trained by the
enterprises (professional training, the combination of working and re-training) because
vocational training has not met the output (recruiting facilities) and the occupations has
not met the social needs. The effectiveness of good vocational training programs would
contribute to the reduction of the unemployment rate in rural areas and reduce the costs
of enterprises. The workplace was concentrated in the local area (in the district and
districts adjacent to laborers' residence, accounting for 27%). Non-farm laborers work
in the area near local enterprises and industrial zones in order to reduce the expenses
for moving, with the expectation of more stable income.

In summary, there were 09 internal factors and 12 external factors affecting the
needs for non-farm employment in the region; the factor of land for production did not
affect non-farm laborer because the non-farm laborers had needs for employment
mostly in facilities, enterprises, industrial zones and industrial parks in the locality.
14


These enterprises attracted the majority of laborers, had many policies to attract
laborers, working conditions, and so on, to create jobs and increase income for laborers.
4.4 Assessment of factors affecting employment needs of rural laborers (Binary
Logistic analysis)
Dependent variable Y – Employment needs of rural laborers (with research
subjects: on-farm laborers, off-farm laborers and non-farm laborers) had 2 values:
Y = 1: having employment needs (seeking/ changing to new jobs, etc.);
Y =0 : having no employment needs (having stable jobs – having no willings to
change jobs)
Independent variables in the model included:

X1 = Age (in working age)

X8 = Land for production (1=having land;
0=having no land)
F1 = Group of basic biological variables

X2 = Sex (0=female; 1=male)
X3 = Health status (0=unable to work;
F2 = Group of capability
1=healthy)
X4 = Employment (0=employed;
1=unemployed)

F3 = Group of livelihoods

X5 = Academic and professional level
(0= illiterate; 1=grade 1; 2=grade 2;
F = Group of socio-economic conditions
3=grade 3; 4= vocational school; 4
and policies
5=college; 6=under-graduate; 7= postgraduate)
F5 = Group of enterprises and working
X6 = Number of dependents (person)
conditions
X7 = Profit (million VND/month)
 For on-farm laborers
Factors affecting employment needs (statistically significant independent
variables) included: X1 = Age, X4 = Unemployment, X8 = Land for production, F1 =
Group of basic biological variables, F3 = Group of livelihoods, F4 = Group of socioeconomic conditions and policy and F5 = Group of enterprises and working conditions;
in which, older on-farm laborers in the working age group had higher employment
needs than the younger laborers. The result of the employment needs of on-farm
laborers showed that they wanted to have regular jobs (due to seasonal production, they
have idle time) to have additional income for themselves, and on-farm laborers having
land for production had higher needs for working on their land (idle time due to
seasonal agricultural production). On-farm laborers always looked for crops and
livestocks to optimize their production, to generate income from agricultural
production, and to make efficient use of their land resources.

15


 For off-farm laborers

Factors affecting the employment needs (statistically significant independent
variables) included: X1 = Age, X4 = Unemployment, X6 = Number of dependents, F1
= Group of basic biological variables, F2 = Group of capabilities and F3 = Group of
livelihoods; in which, F2 = Group of capabilities (with 03 factors: academic level,
professional level, working experience): the variables of group of capabilities were
negative, indicating that if the off-farm laborers’ academic and professional levels were
low, they would have higher employment needs, because the off-farm jobs did not
require qualifications, but only required manual laborers with good health to handle the
hired work. The results showed that off-farm laborers with low academic level (even
illiterate) had the working age of 45-60 years, had experience in off-farm work in
agricultural production, had few lands for production (even have no land for
production) and did not want to change to non-farm occupations.

16


Table 4.1: Results of the regression analysis of employment needs of rural laborers in Can Tho city
On-farm (n=210)
Off-farm (n=110)
Items
B
Wald
Sig.
B
Wald
Sig.

Non-farm (n=210)
B
Wald

Sig.

X1= Age

0,173

7,856

0,000

0,534

9,155

0,001

-1,089

5.450

0,020

X2= Sex

0,018

0,016

0,739

-0,645

0,357

0,525

-0,637

1,385

0,239

X3= Health status

0,237

0,867

0,350

1,476

1,264

0,207

0,509

0,738

0,390

X4= Unemployment

0,903

4,556

0,033

2,848

5,577

0,018

2,126

4,078

0,042

-0,029

0,254

0,394

-0,619

0,157

0,711

2,78

6,435

0,011

X6= Number of dependents

0,431

1,879

0,182

2,371

6,679

0,007

0,966

8,332

0,004

X7= Profit

0,003

0,04

0,842

0,007

0,308

0,642

0,002

1,448

0,229

X8= Land for production

3,402

8,376

0,000

-0,801

1,663

0,216

-1,722

2,523

0,112

F1= Group of basic biological variables

2,526

7,527

0,000

2,348

2,726

0,068

-0,43

0,069

0,792

F2= Group of capability

0,118

0,568

0,451

-1,467

3,568

0,059

2,157

3,121

0,081

F3= Group of livelihoods

1,804

7,169

0,000

3,097

3,328

0,068

-1,196

2.905

0,084

F4= Group of socio-economic and political
conditions

2,953

3,984

0,042

-2,219

0,061

0,805

0,229

5.363

0,024

F5= Group of enterprises and working conditions

3,283

9,588

0,000

-1,879

0,516

0,473

-0,225

0,161

0,506

2,951

2,07

0,150

X5= Academic and professional level

Constant

-6,196 8,387
0,000 -7,421 12,257 0,000
Source: Synthesized and processed from 530 observations in Can Tho city, 2015-2016.

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 For non-farm laborers
The factors affecting the job demand (the statistically significant independent
variables) included: X1= Age, X5 = Academic and professional level, X4 =
Unemployment, X6 = Number of dependents, F2= Group of capability, F3= Group of
livelihoods and F4= Group of socio-economic and political conditions; in which, there
were 02 negative values:
- X1= Age: the Age variable had negative value, indicating the age of non-farm
laborers without employment needs, reflecting that the older the laborers were, the
lower the chance of finding a job they had. The result showed that the employment
needs of non-farm laborers were mostly amongst younger laborers because of higher
incomes; the older they were, the more difficulties they had to face due to health
problems, which made it hard to secure their jobs. However, some other jobs
(housewife, babysitter) also indirectly helped the non-farm laborers in the family to
reduce the cost in hard times.
- F3= Group of livelihoods (including 03 factors: number of dependents, profit,
unemployment): the variables in the group of livelihoods showed negative values,
indicating that even if the non-farm laborers had few dependents (or no dependent),
low profit, or were not unemployed, they still had employment needs to ensure their
life, as most non-farm laborers did not have their own land for production.
In conclusion, through the above-analyzed results, there was an increasing trend
in the employment needs of the rural laborers in rural areas as there were developments
in the socio-economic conditions in rural areas such as the transfer of plant and animal

breeds, agricultural sector restructuring, the formation of new urban areas, trade
centers, etc. Thereby, the laborers in rural areas had more opportunities to find and
choose the job that suited their capability and their family conditions, generating more
income.
Based on the regression analysis, the Chi-squared test (χ2- Chi-square) was used
to test the hypothesis that there was no difference in the employment needs between
the groups of on-farm laborers, off-farm laborer, and non-farm laborers in Can Tho
city.
Table 4.2: Testing the hypothesis of the employment needs and the laborers
Laborers
On-farm laborers
Off-farm laborer
Non-farm laborers
Total

With employment
needs
Observations (%)

Without employment
needs
Observations (%)

Total

136
98
183

32,6

74
65,5
210
23,5
12
10,6
110
43,9
27
23,9
210
417 100,0
113 100,0
530
Source: Synthesized and processed from the investigation results of 530 observations in Can
Tho City, 2015 - 2016.

With the Chi-squared test result χ2 = 40,31 and the difference of 1%, it is
indicated that there were differences in the employment needs of the rural laborers,
between the on-farm laborers, off-farm laborer, and non-farm laborers in Can Tho city,

18


in other words, the hypothesis that there was no difference in the employment needs of
the rural laborers was rejected.
 For on-farm laborers: On-farm laborers had employment needs and wanted
to find a regular job (as they worked on farm seasonally and had plenty of spare time),
so they sought for the jobs that suit their capability and agricultural production
experiences to earn more income from agricultural production based on the available

resources, i.e. their production land, such as cooperating with enterprises or
participating in cooperative groups and co-operatives in agricultural production.
 For off-farm laborers: the observation results showed that off-farm laborers
had low academic levels (including illiterate cases), aging from 45 - 60. Some laborers
were over legal working age but still able to work still participated in off-farm labor
(as they had the experiences as off-farm laborers). Besides, the number of dependents
in the family had a great impact on the off-farm laborers (the main labor of the family),
so the off-farm laborers really need the jobs to generate more income to cover the
expenditures of the family, which indicated that off-farm laborers had high
employment needs.
 For non-farm laborers: with the policies on socio-economic developments
of the locality (economic restructuring, labor restructuring), the laborers in the rural
areas tended to change to non-farm labor, contributing and creating conditions for nonfarm laborers to have more job opportunities (such as the transfer of plant and animal
breeds, household economy using combination model; developing traditional craft
villages along with establishing new craft villages, developing cottage industry and
handicrafts in communes, and agricultural - aquacultural product processing, etc.).
Besides, the employment needs of the non-farm laborers were primarily from young
laborers who had higher opportunity to receive vocational training and to work in a
highly professional environment with a higher salary.
4.5 Essential solutions to solve the employment needs of rural laborers in Can Tho
City
 Essential solutions for on-farm laborers
- Promoting agricultural and rural economic restructuring;
- Developing household economy;
- Developing collective economy with co-operatives as the cores;
- Promoting vocational training for rural laborers.
 Essential solutions for off-farm laborers with employment needs
- Off-farm laborers should participate in the vocational training courses in using
machines, machinery in agricultural production.
- Local government should encourage farm models and labor-intensive

agricultural production models.
- Off-farm laborers should participate in the cooperation groups, cooperatives.
- Performing loan support programs for laborers.

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 Essential solutions for non-farm laborers
- Restructuring the industry sector;
- Developing medium and small enterprises;
- Creating jobs for rural laborers through the policies for unemployment
solutions;
- Creating jobs for rural laborers through laborer export.
In summary, based on the proposed solutions for each of the above-mentioned
laborers, the dissertation recommends leaders of the city, levels, sectors and localities
concerned to focus on some important solutions to contribute to promoting agricultural
economic development and solving the issues on labor and employment, supporting
the socio-economic development of the locality in particular and the city in general to
develop synchronously.
- Promoting economic restructuring (industry, agriculture, and rural areas), of
which: collective economic development with cooperatives as the cores;
- Promoting vocational training for laborers in rural areas, focusing on
vocational training for laborers for exports;
- Developing of household economy, farm models, and labor-intensive
agricultural production models;
- Performing solutions to attract investment, focusing on developing medium
and small enterprises;
- Applying job policies, creating jobs for rural laborers;
- Expanding the scope of the borrowers to create jobs for them.
Chapter 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
On the basis of direct interviews with 530 people in working age, using
Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Binary Logistic to analyze the factors
influencing the employment needs of rural laborers in four districts of Can Tho city,
the following conclusions can be drawn:
- The situation of job creation has contributed to the improvement of
unemployment through employment policies, investment in physical facilities for
public vocational schools, improvement in the investment attraction mechanism.
However, the vocational training for rural laborers has not achieved high efficiency,
not fully meeting the needs of the localities. Laborers have not yet found jobs after
vocational training, training facilities lack practical equipment, over-focusing on
theory, inappropriate training time. Therefore, in vocational training, it is necessary to
conduct surveys and assessments on the training needs of each group of rural laborers
in accordance with the local conditions, etc., to contribute to solving employment needs
for laborers of the city after vocational training.

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- The majority of rural laborers had an employment need as they want to have
an income to stabilize their life. However, from the results of the regression analysis,
there was a difference in the employment needs amongst the groups of rural laborers,
clarifying the research hypothesis. All three groups had in common these influence
factors affecting the employment needs of rural laborers: age, savings, unemployment,
economic restructuring, labor restructuring, policies on educational investments,
policies on vocational training, policies on employment, policies on loan, and
employment information. In addition, for on-farm laborers, the factors of production
land, health status, enterprise employment, wages paid to employees, the effectiveness
of vocational training programs, workplace, and labor safety affected the employment

needs of the laborers. In terms of off-farm and non-farm laborers, the factors affecting
the employment needs of the laborers included academic levels, professional level,
work experience and the number of dependents.
- In the near future, the good solutions for good job creation and vocational
training in order to help meet the employment needs of the rural laborers are as follows:
(1) For on-farm laborers: accelerate the restructuring of agricultural and rural economy;
developing household economy; developing collective economy with cooperatives as
the cores; encouraging vocational training for rural laborers. (2) For non-farm laborers:
restructuring the industry sector; developing medium and small enterprises; creating
jobs for rural laborers through employment policies; creating jobs for rural laborers
through labor export. (3) vocational training of using machinery in agricultural
production (using tractors, seed drill, transplanters, harvesters), leaders of local
authorities should encourage the development of farm models and labor-intensive
agricultural production, actively participating in cooperative groups and cooperatives
for agricultural production services such as transplanting, fertilizing, using pesticides,
tillage, harvesting (rice, vegetables, cane, beans, …)
5.2 Recommendations
- In order to have comprehensive solutions to create jobs for the city's labor
force and overcome the constraints mentioned by the research, it is essential to study
the labor supply-demand market for each economy, each economic region, each
locality, in which, the influences of the process of international integration, the
academic levels of the laborers, the demand for labor recruitment of foreign investors,
the seasonal nature of employment, and the impact of the policies of the Central
Government and the locality on laborers should be taken into consideration.
- Leaders of the city and all levels, sectors and the localities should annually
survey and assess the vocational training work and job creation in order to have a
foundation for allocating corresponding funds and other resources, implementing
programs and projects to support the creation of jobs for rural laborers; in particular, it
is necessary to focus on investing and developing vocational training institution
network, generating conditions for improving the quality of vocational training, and

mobilizing various social sectors to participate in vocational training.

21