The society and economy of Vietnam is still characterised by a rapid transformation process. There is high economic and political pressure. coming not only from internal developments but also from foreign countries. This groundbreaking book takes stock of the rapid processes of change in the labour market and the industrial relations of Vietnam. The contributions of Vietnamese and international experts cover the institutional arrangements of the labour market and of the system of industrial relations, and they also look at consequences for welfare and social inequality and treat the relation between culture and the economy in the country. Further contributions compare Vietnam with other developing country and analyse the relationships between international and Vietnamese labour markets. They also address the key question as to whether Asia is a new focal point of industrial conflicts.

This book surveys Vietnam’s economic reforms since the start of the transition from socialist planning to market economy, and in particular their impact on employment relations: the transformation of which has been a key part of reforms and a necessary pre-condition to Vietnam’s entry to the WTO in 2006.

This essential reference reviews recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and union relations in a sample of multi national companies (MNCs) and local firms in Vietnam. It addresses the transfer of human resources management (HRM) systems across borders and the transformation of HRM practices in Vietnam in the context of a developing and transitional economy. The book extensively examines the attraction of younger generations to HRM systems in developing countries, the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon and the local firms potentially losing commercial competitiveness in their own country. The book also reviews the catalyst role of MCNs in the management of human resources. Covers HRM in Vietnam – an area barely covered in other books Covers two of the most important types of enterprises in Vietnam: multinational companies and state-owned enterprises Contributes to knowledge in a number of key areas including globalisation, social transformation, and diffusion of best practice by multinational corporations

This book explores how capital-labour relations and antagonisms structure forms of militancy in Vietnam and shows that Vietnamese labour militancy is in line with global trends of worker activism. Vietnamese labour politics is undergoing significant changes, with a new Labour code that became law in 2021 allowing workers to join ‘worker representative organisations’ not subordinate to the state-led union or the ruling Communist Party. This book reflects on the nature of Vietnamese labour politics on the cusp of reform. It focuses on nominally formal labour within the garment and footwear industry in the southern part of the country, the author argues that while employment in the formal economy is expanding in terms of the absolute numbers of people working in formally registered firms, capital employs various ways to make conditions inside these companies increasingly insecure. In response, workers organise in forms of decentralised resistance. The book analyses two of these in detail; wildcat strikes and ‘microstrikes’—short collective work stoppages that occur inside workplaces. Arguing that labour resistance is structured in relation to capital’s behaviour, and not only because of weak labour relations institutions and mechanisms, this book makes a valuable contribution to the field of labour and social movement studies, development studies, sociology, and political economy and Southeast Asian Studies.

Two decades after Vietnam introduced a programme of economic renovation commonly known as Doi Moi, the country today allows market competition in industry, and a new working class has been created. This is the first book to focus on the role and conditions of workers in the new economic regime. The authors of the book trace Vietnam's labour history, explore the impact of the socialist legacy and examine the reasons for the large number of recent strikes. The book provides insights into the workforce of one of Asia's most rapidly developing industrial economies.