Institutional Gaps in Protecting Digital and Informal Workers in Vietnam: Implications for Inclusive Development

Abstract

This article analyzes the adequacy and effectiveness of Vietnam’s institutional framework for protecting workers in the digital economy and the informal sector in the context of digital transformation and inclusive development. Drawing on data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam in 2025 and the Fairwork Vietnam Ratings 2023, the study highlights the large-scale and heightened vulnerability of informal and platform-based workers. Methodologically, the article adopts an institutional analytical approach, combining qualitative legal analysis, comparative law, and descriptive statistical methods, based on national labour legislation and policy documents, official statistical data, and international labour standards, particularly those of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU). The findings indicate that, notwithstanding existing normative commitments to decent work and social inclusion, Vietnam’s worker protection system remains fragmented and insufficiently responsive to emerging forms of digital and platform-based labour. The principal institutional gaps concern labour classification, the scope of social protection coverage, enforcement mechanisms, and the governance of digital labour platforms. On this basis, the article conceptualizes Vietnam’s worker protection system as a two-tier institutional architecture, consisting of a foundational normative layer and an operational legal–policy layer. It advances evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at strengthening institutional capacity, enhancing regulatory coherence, and promoting an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable labour market in Vietnam.