One-in-five job postings on Vietnam’s four largest job boards; Vietnamworks, JobStreet (owned by the Australian job board Seek), CareerBuilder, and CareerLink, between mid-November 2014 and mid-January 2015 specified gender requirements that were heavily skewed towards men according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), reports vietnamnet.vn. 

The ILO policy brief, entitled “Gender equality in recruitment and promotion practices in Vietnam, found that 70% of job ads requested that the positions be filled by men, while 30% wanted female applicants.

Men were most often targeted for more technical, highly skilled jobs; or jobs that require more outdoor activities, such as architects, drivers, and engineers. In contrast, women were often preferred for office and support work; positions like receptionists, secretaries, accountants, human resources management, and general affairs.

Vietnam implemented laws against gender discrimination in 2006/07, but these seemed to be aimed at government and public organisations, rather than private employers, and relate to aspects of life in general, rather than specifically to employment.

“The Labour Code prohibits gender discrimination but it does not seem to be widely enforced,” said Fiona Coombe, Director of Legal and Regulatory Research for Staffing Industry Analysts.

A sentiment with which the ILO seems to agree. It has put forward recommendation including putting in place specific regulations to prohibit gender-based discrimination practices, such as advertising gender preference in job postings; improving law enforcement; raising awareness on the social and economic benefits of gender equality to break long-standing stereotypes; and allowing flexible arrangements for employees to manage work and family time commitments in line with labour laws.

Gyorgy Sziraczki, Director of the ILO for Vietnam, commented: "Job advertisements should avoid any mention of gender, as this represents a direct form of gender-based discrimination, and such ‘glass walls' will result in gender segregation by occupation and job function. This will limit the ability of businesses to fully benefit from the talent of newly recruited employers."

Gender segregation in the job market was also shown in advertisements for managerial positions. Up to 83% of management job postings with gender preference required male applicants. Significantly, all of the director posts were exclusively for men.

As part of the study, a survey of employers in the private sector revealed that the two most important factors for recruitment decisions were academic qualifications and work experience. However, the third most important factor, cited by two-thirds of employers, was the applicant’s ability to work outside of normal working hours.

Up to 43% of employers also asked applicants' marital status and 30% tried to find out their future plans to have children.

Only 60% of the employers interviewed counted maternity leave as part of the length of service as required by the laws. With the length of service being the second most important factor when employers make promotion decisions, this represents a significant disadvantage for women looking to advance their careers.