The Ministry recently submitted to the Prime Minister a draft amendment to Decision No. 42/2012, which supports organizations and units employing ethnic minority workers in mountainous and disadvantaged regions.

Decision No. 42 was designed to encourage companies, cooperatives, and institutions to recruit and train ethnic minority laborers.

Thanks to the policy, businesses benefited from reduced production costs, higher profits, and improved vocational training for local workers. This created a stable labor force, helping enterprises feel secure in hiring ethnic minority employees.

Government subsidies for insurance and vocational training also gave ethnic minority workers in remote areas access to stable jobs and incomes, contributing to local security and order.

Moreover, vocational training helped change the mindset of ethnic minority workers, shifting them from small-scale, traditional farming practices to applying modern knowledge, increasing productivity and boosting household incomes.

Challenges in implementation

Despite its benefits, implementation of Decision No. 42 has faced hurdles. Of 28 eligible provinces, 12 have not received any support funding. Public awareness campaigns have been limited, and some employers remain hesitant to apply for support due to complicated paperwork and modest financial benefits.

The Ministry noted that human resource development - especially among ethnic minorities - is one of Vietnam’s three strategic breakthroughs in regional and global integration. Yet, many programs still fall short of expectations.

Specific shortcomings include:

Funding delays and unclear training regulations, with no detailed guidelines on “support levels by trade and training duration.”

Short-term training focus, without retraining options, limiting long-term impact.

Overlaps with Decision No. 46/2015 on vocational training support, creating confusion.

Insurance subsidies apply only to newly hired workers or new contracts, with unclear legal alignment. The support duration is capped at five years, discouraging long-term employment.

No specific Ministry of Finance guidance on budget allocation between central and local governments, complicating implementation.

Call for practical adjustments

Given these limitations, ministries, businesses, and local authorities have proposed amending Decision No. 42 to align with current realities.

“The government must adopt practical, realistic policies that encourage enterprises, organizations, and cooperatives to generate jobs and improve livelihoods for workers in ethnic minority, mountainous, and disadvantaged regions,” the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment stressed.

Binh Minh