The world of work is changing in ways and at a pace which are truly unprecedented. Digital, environmental and demographic shifts are driving rapid and unpredictable change in the nature of work and how it is organized, while working relationships keep evolving, and the traditional employment relationship is eroding rapidly. “Against this backdrop, the availability of comprehensive, meaningful and reliable statistics is of utmost importance,” said Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue. “They permit to better seize the changing work realities and monitor developments overtime, facilitating better informed policy action. Good-quality data are essential to improving the working conditions and the well-being of workers and therefore enhancing labour rights.”

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New statistical standards adopted since 2013 promote a better understanding of paid and unpaid work, working relationships and the informal economy. This includes a new statistical standard concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, which reckons that unpaid care work is also work. 

“This standard was revolutionary and has given further impetus and legitimacy to policies facilitating a more even distribution of unpaid care work within and between families and the State through, for instance, greater investments in public policies for childcare and elderly care,” said Ms Tomei. 

She also underlined the close alignment between the new statistical standard on informality and ILO Recommendation No. 204 on the transition from the informal to the formal economy, which provides guidance on policy action. Both standards use the same definition of informality and cover informality of jobs, work activities, and economic units, as well as the contribution of informal activities to GDP. 

But major data gaps persist, as current data is insufficient to accurately track the changing world of work. “There are almost no authoritative data available to inform discussions on the impact of artificial intelligence and algorithmic management, for example. To fully harness their potential benefits, we must understand their implications for workers. High-quality data is vital for the quality of these debates,” Ms Tomei added.

In addition, data is not always sufficiently embedded in policy making, sometimes due to a lack of clarity in what is being measured and why.

“I hope that at the end of this conference, we will have a better sense of which path to take, not only to improve data availability on ongoing labour market transformations, but also to better link data to policy making for better informed decisions that promote fair, inclusive, sustainable employment practices and decent work for all,” Ms Tomei concluded.
According to ILO, informal employment refers to ‘all employment arrangements that do not provide individuals with legal or social protection through their work, thereby leaving them more exposed to economic risk’. Informal employment refers to jobs, whether in the formal or informal sector, that are not covered by labour regulation, taxation, social protection or other employment benefits. The term informal economy workers refers to those who hold informal employment.
For a country with a large population and developing economy such as Viet Nam, informal employment is still an integral part of society, making an important contribution to job creation and income generation for workers. Although informality often has negative impacts on workers’ incomes, safety and health, they are in many cases left with no choice but to work in informal jobs to secure livelihoods in the context of limited social welfare conditions or insecure earnings from formal work.
Throughout the country’s dynamic socio-economic development, the Government of Viet Nam has made unwavering efforts to further develop the economy and formalize informal sectors to ensure decent work for workers. However, many workers can still be found in the informal sector, with the situation becoming particularly acute during 2020–21 amid the severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Việt Nam has implemented numerous policies to promote the role and ensure legitimate rights and interests of informal workers and enterprises

These policies focus on household businesses, thereby maintaining social and cultural cohesion and promoting sustainable production, he added.

Addressing a high-level dialogue on leveraging informal employment for inclusive development in Asia and the Pacific held by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York on Tuesday, the diplomat said close to 65 per cent of the workforce in Việt Nam is employed in the informal sector.

He shared Việt Nam's experience in improving legal frameworks, encouraging mutual support among business households through appropriate partnership models such as cooperatives, ensuring strict management and timely support from local authorities for individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and household businesses.

Representatives at the dialogues assessed trends related to the informal labour sector in the region, and shared good practices and lessons in implementing policies and support measures for informal workers and enterprises to enable them to continue contributing to economic development efforts.

According to the definition in the 2022 Report on Informal Employment in Việt Nam by the country's General Statistics Office (GSO), the informal sector comprises establishments engaged in production or business owned by households and not established as separate legal entities, not independent of the households or their members owning them.

Informally employed individuals are those engaged in work that, as defined by law or in practice, is not protected by a labour law, does not entail income tax payment or does not entitle them to social protection and other employment benefits.