The International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched a project in collaboration with the Government of Netherlands to anticipate and address future skills needs in the garment sector in Vietnam. As per a Textile Excellence report, the two-year old project starting in January 2022 will require ILO to support the Vietnam government, employers’ and workers’ organizations to understand the industry’s need for skilled employees now and in future. The project will focus on those at highest risk of losing their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and increased automation and digitalization in the industries.

Guided by the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) , the ILO Global Call to Action for a Human-Centered Recovery (2021) and the recent International Labor Conference resolution concerning skills and lifelong learning, the new project will apply lessons learned from similar ILO garment sector skills anticipation projects in the garment sector in Brazil, Ethiopia, Jordan and Peru, and it will build on the achievements of past ILO skills development programs in Vietnam.

The project will be implemented in close collaboration with the IFC-ILO Better Work Vietnam programme, and the findings and achievements in Vietnam will be shared with other Member States of the ILO through the creation of a regional knowledge platform on future skills needs in textiles and garments in Asia and the Pacific.