GenAI Disrupts 11.5M Jobs in Vietnam, Hitting Women the Hardest

• 11.5M workers exposed to GenAI in Vietnam
• Women face higher risk than men
• AI to transform jobs more than replace them

As the International Labour Organisation Country Office for Vietnam reported on Thursday, generative AI has potential exposure to nearly 11.5 million people in Vietnam, or 1 in 5 workers.

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Jobs in Vietnam: Labour Market Exposure and Policy Considerations indicates significant influence from GAI technology regarding current and future changes to the labour market. It is anticipated that there will be an increase in changes to the tasks performed within occupations rather than as many jobs being eliminated.

There are approximately one million Vietnamese employees who are in occupations with task requirements that are most likely to be replaced by GAI's capabilities based solely on the features of the task itself. The fact that only 1 million employees meet this definition, or two percent of the population, is much lower than Indonesia, the Philippines or Thailand.

Exposure to GAI-related job loss is not evenly distributed. Clerical support occupations have the highest exposure rate, with almost two-thirds of clerical supporting occupations facing the highest amount of exposure to task automation by GAI; followed by the financial and insurance services industry, wholesale and retail, and communications and information services. Geographically, more than the majority of affected employees will be located in Ha No, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, which together comprise more than 1/3 of the total number of jobs that may be affected by GAI in Vietnam.

A major finding is that a significant gender gap exists, wherein the exposure rate for women is 24.1 percent and for men 17.8 percent, even after accounting for attributes like education, occupation and other characteristics that might cause this disparity. The majority of female workers work in clerical, administrative or services jobs where GenAI applications are likely to be adopted because these types of jobs require tasks that are highly standardized and documentation oriented.

Women will be affected by the use of GenAI technology in both positive and negative ways. In sales jobs where women make up about two-thirds of the workforce, GenAI may allow for greater productivity and enhanced job quality. Conversely, women who perform routine clerical tasks may face a much greater risk of displacement due to automation and may lose a source of stable and formal employment.

Despite these issues, the report indicates that between 2022 and 2024 there has not been any clear evidence that the employment opportunities for highly educated, young workers in high exposure sectors have declined. Employment has actually continued to grow in these sectors indicating that the demand for labor remains strong and that AI adoption remains at an early stage.

“Vietnam has a significant opportunity to harness generative AI as a driver of productivity and decent work,” Park said. “However, the benefits and risks will not be evenly distributed, with women facing higher levels of exposure than men. Getting this transition right requires deliberate action now: reinforcing AI governance in line with labour standards, investing in people’s skills, ensuring workers have a voice in how AI is introduced in their workplaces, supporting SMEs in responsible AI adoption, and putting in place the protections needed to ensure technological change is fair and inclusive”, he added.

The committee has established a mandate for the national government, employers, workers, and other relevant entities to have coordinated actions towards gender-responsive skills development and improved labour market information systems.

An ILO and World Bank commissioned background study developed jointly for the World Development Report in 2026 examined labour market awareness of GenAI use across 135 countries’ economies, affecting approximately 62 percent of total employment worldwide. The research found that variation in digital infrastructure and composition of tasks performed will ultimately determine how the risks and opportunities associated with AI will be distributed between developed and developing economies.

Also, it was pointed out by this research study that the majority of employment opportunities that are exposed to being replaced by automating technology can quickly transition from having no access to the internet, to losing their jobs and the total number of jobs that could transition from high-quality to poor-quality for workers. Many of these jobs in developing countries would typically be classified as having been higher quality – when they have been traditionally pathways for citizens from informal sector jobs to becoming part of the legally recognised economy through access to formal sector job opportunities.