Recently, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor（VGCL has put forward a forward-looking proposal to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Vietnam (MoLISA) to shorten the weekly working hours to below 48 hours. This proposal quickly sparked widespread discussion and attention from all sectors of society, and is seen as an important signal of Vietnam's labor system reform.

According to the Star News citing Vietnamese media reports, the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has expressed a positive attitude towards this suggestion, believing that reducing working hours not only helps improve the quality of life of workers, but also brings positive socio-economic impacts. Therefore, the department has requested relevant institutions to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth study of this proposal from a scientific and practical perspective, in order to fully explore its feasibility when amending the Labor Law.

Experts point out that the key to reducing working hours lies in synchronously improving production efficiency. They emphasized that countries with high productivity levels such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea have successfully reduced working hours through structural changes such as investing in technology, improving production efficiency, and product quality A win-win situation with economic growth. As a rapidly developing economy, Vietnam should also learn from these successful experiences and promote industrial upgrading and technological innovation.

However, Vietnam's manufacturing enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, which generally rely on cheap labor to operate and have relatively low technological levels, which to some extent limits the improvement of productivity. Therefore, in order to shorten working hours, enterprises must first increase investment in technology, introduce modern machinery and equipment, improve workers' skill levels, and thus stabilize or increase labor productivity.

In addition, experts also remind that reducing working hours should be a gradual process that fully considers the current socio-economic conditions. Sudden reduction in working hours may pose a risk of income reduction for workers when labor productivity has not yet fully improved. Therefore, the government and businesses should develop detailed transition plans to ensure that workers can maintain a stable source of income while reducing their working hours.

For workers, improving their skills is an important way to cope with changes in working hours. Good skills not only improve labor productivity, but also earn workers higher income and better job opportunities. At the same time, enterprises should actively improve the working environment and welfare benefits, build entertainment and cultural areas, enrich the spiritual life of workers, and stimulate their work enthusiasm and creativity.

In summary, the Vietnamese Labor Union has proposed a reduction in weekly working hoursSuggestions for less than 48 hours are in line with the trend of the times and the actual needs of workers. But to achieve this goal, it requires the joint efforts and cooperation of the government, enterprises, and workers. Only through continuous technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and institutional improvement can Vietnam's labor market maintain competitiveness while continuously improving the quality of life and happiness of workers.