What's new

Vietnam labor costs highest among ASEAN comparators

Viet

ELITE MEMBER
Jun 18, 2012
30,134
0
20,617
Country
Viet Nam
Location
Germany
Sat 12/22/2018, 09:00 (GMT+7)

upload_2018-12-22_9-37-12.jpeg

An employee work at a garment factory in Vietnam. Photo by Reuters


In a report on enhancing enterprise competitiveness and enhancing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) linkages, it says Vietnam's labor costs are higher than in comparable Southeast Asian peers.

It defines labor costs for each firm as the cost of all payments to all workers divided by the number of workers.

It says wage costs about $2,739 per worker for the median Vietnamese firm, about twice as high as in Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia, and about 30 to 45 percent higher than in Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

While Vietnam’s labor costs are higher than in the rest of the region, they seem in line with productivity levels and thus do not seem to be a major obstacle to competitiveness, the report says.

The average manufacturing firm in Vietnam produces about $10,500 worth of value-added per worker per year, higher than in most countries in Southeast Asia. It is around $10,000 in Malaysia, and $5,000 in Cambodia.

Vietnam’s relatively high value appears to be partly driven by high and growing use of capital, the report says.

The report also breaks down labor productivity in the country by region. The north-central and central coastal regions of Vietnam have the highest productivity -- of almost $16,000 value addition per worker -- while the southeast comes in second at $14,000.

The Red River Delta region has a productivity of only $7,000, and it is even lower in the Mekong River Delta at around $6,000.

It also said that foreign-owned firms are generally more productive than domestic firms, which can be explained by their easier access to technology and finance through their parent companies.

The World Bank report also says that capital productivity is low in Vietnam. The ratio of sales to value capital in Vietnam is around 160 percent, lower than in any of its peers in Southeast Asia. The bank’s data confirms that capital might not be used very efficiently in Vietnam.



https://e.vnexpress.net/news/busine...-highest-among-asean-comparators-3857341.html
 
Poor infrastructure, massive red tape and non business friendly government policy are also some of the factors contributing to high cost of per worker.
 
It says wage costs about $2,739 per worker for the median Vietnamese firm, about twice as high as in Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia

The average manufacturing firm in Vietnam produces about $10,500 worth of value-added per worker per year, higher than in most countries in Southeast Asia. It is around $10,000 in Malaysia

What? Vietnam has similar value-added with Malaysia, and wage cost is twice of Malaysia's? It means Malaysia is actually much more cost-competitive than Vietnam wage-wise? You mean the average labor cost is around $1,370 per year in Malaysia, or around $114 per month? Or around $5 per working day? Sounds extremely unlikely for Malaysia.

Did the article mixed up per month with per year for Malaysia? Sounds more believable if it's $1,370 per month for Malaysia.
 
What? Vietnam has similar value-added with Malaysia, and wage cost is twice of Malaysia's? It means Malaysia is actually much more cost-competitive than Vietnam wage-wise? You mean the average labor cost is around $1,370 per year in Malaysia, or around $114 per month? Or around $5 per working day? Sounds extremely unlikely for Malaysia.

Did the article mixed up per month with per year for Malaysia? Sounds more believable if it's $1,370 per month for Malaysia.
Did you consider cheap immigrant from Bangladesh ?


 
Did you consider cheap immigrant from Bangladesh ?

Come on, even Banglas don't earn as little as $5 per day otherwise they wouldn't work illegally in Malaysia. :lol:

I just dug the statistics and man, some of your statistics contradict each other. You guys really deserve a better civil service.

Total employees engaged in the Manufacturing sector in November 2017 was 1,054,705 persons

https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/pdfPrev&id=elJzUlp4aVhSM2NNNGpnLzlxcFZXZz09

Manufacturing Industry Employment 2,119,158 employees

http://www.miti.gov.my/miti/resources/National Policy on Industry 4.0/Industry4WRD_Final.pdf
Page 27 of PDF^

I'm using the figure of 2.1m because it's more realistic, otherwise your value-added per worker is almost as high as Germany's.

From the same source in the second link, Malaysia's manufacturing value-added is around RM283 billion, or around USD70 billion.

Therefore, Malaysia's manufacturing value-added per worker is around $70b/2.1m = USD33K per year.


The average salary is RM3,624.7 per month, or around USD900 per month.

http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=statistic_nsdp&pg=statistic_nsdp_labormrktwages&lang=en

So yeah, both contradicts the article if based on official sources.

/

Malaysia's MVA per worker is around 3x of Vietnam's.
Malaysia's wage cost is around 4x of Vietnam's.

This makes more sense.
 
What? Vietnam has similar value-added with Malaysia, and wage cost is twice of Malaysia's? It means Malaysia is actually much more cost-competitive than Vietnam wage-wise? You mean the average labor cost is around $1,370 per year in Malaysia, or around $114 per month? Or around $5 per working day? Sounds extremely unlikely for Malaysia.

Did the article mixed up per month with per year for Malaysia? Sounds more believable if it's $1,370 per month for Malaysia.

Oh, that's a good news for Indonesia then, if Vietnam wage is so high. Let the world industry come and invest in our country instead :D
 
Sat 12/22/2018, 09:00 (GMT+7)

View attachment 528035
An employee work at a garment factory in Vietnam. Photo by Reuters

It says wage costs about $2,739 per worker for the median Vietnamese firm, about twice as high as in Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia, and about 30 to 45 percent higher than in Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/busine...-highest-among-asean-comparators-3857341.html

That means labor cost in Malaysia is equal to Laos, Myanmar and lower than Cambodia or the Phillipines.

I know the quality of vnexpress.net data so I highly doubt these ones.
 
Minimum wage in Malaysia is around USD250, but actual average Labour wage in 2016 is around USD600/ month (2,500 ringgit). 2018 figure would be slightly higher. With social benefits like transportation, housing, retirement funds etc thrown in, the cost of each worker can easily reach USD 750 (RM3000) per month.

Majority of labour workforce in Malaysia are foreigners from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Vietnam etc. Officially there are around 1.7 million foreign workers, and unofficial reports are around 2 to 3 million inclusive of illegal unregistered immigrants. (edit:- in another report I've just seen, they reported 6 million foreign workers inside Malaysia, legal plus illegal, which I think is over-stated)

Extract from a 2017 New Straits Times news report on legal foreign workers:-
The ministry also provided the breakdown in the number of foreign workers currently in the country, with the majority hailing from Indonesia with 728,870 workers.

Nepal currently has 405,898 workers, Bangladesh with 221,089 workers, Myanmar with 127, 705 workers and India with 114, 455 workers.

Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam and China have 59,281, 56,153, 29,039 and 15,399 workers in Malaysia, respectively.
 
Last edited:
That means labor cost in Malaysia is equal to Laos, Myanmar and lower than Cambodia or the Phillipines.

I know the quality of vnexpress.net data so I highly doubt these ones.
They quoted world bank data but true the data must be wrong. Wages in Malaysia can’t be lower than Vietnam. Impossible.

Minimum wage in Malaysia is around USD250, but actual average Labour wage in 2016 is around USD600/ month (2,500 ringgit). 2018 figure would be slightly higher. With social benefits like transportation, housing, retirement funds etc thrown in, the cost of each worker can easily reach USD 750 (RM3000) per month.

Majority of labour workforce in Malaysia are foreigners from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Vietnam etc. Officially there are around 1.7 million foreign workers, and unofficial reports are around 2 to 3 million inclusive of illegal unregistered immigrants.

Extract from a 2017 New Straits Times news report on legal foreign workers:-
The ministry also provided the breakdown in the number of foreign workers currently in the country, with the majority hailing from Indonesia with 728,870 workers.

Nepal currently has 405,898 workers, Bangladesh with 221,089 workers, Myanmar with 127, 705 workers and India with 114, 455 workers.

Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam and China have 59,281, 56,153, 29,039 and 15,399 workers in Malaysia, respectively.
So Malaysia is like Saudi Arabia? All the jobs are done by foreigners?
 
They quoted world bank data but true the data must be wrong. Wages in Malaysia can’t be lower than Vietnam. Impossible.


So Malaysia is like Saudi Arabia? All the jobs are done by foreigners?
Yes, you see foreign workers every where, construction workers, plantation workers, factory workers, security guards, taxi drivers, restaurant workers etc. etc.... Malaysians dislike hard labour jobs, only those who are least educated will work as workers and they are very small in number.
 
Last edited:
Yes, you see foreign workers every where, construction workers, plantation workers, factory workers, security guards, taxi drivers, restaurant workers etc. etc.... Malaysians dislike hard labour jobs, only those who are least educated will work as workers and they are very small in number.
Aha interesting. I see it: the Malay enjoy a good life while let other do the hard labor. That is ok :-)
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)


Country Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom