Is it really difficult to find a job in Laos to live there ?
Are you new in Laos? Perplexed in the new country and looking for a job? Then, you are in the right place. Here is a guide for how difficult is to enter the job market as a foreigner and what are the job opportunities in Laos.
Laos Country Overview
Laos located on the Southeast side of Asia is a mountainous country. The country’s overall situation has been steady but being a mountainous terrain, the risk of natural disasters always been there. The country’s 70 percent population is still dependent directly or indirectly on forests and agriculture. A great portion of the total population lives in rural areas with vulnerable conditions. Despite the geographical hurdles, the government has managed to collaborate with international organizations such as the World Bank to uplift the livelihood of the people.
Q&A : Work and find a job in Laos for foreigners – Answers to the most asked questions
📈 What economic sectors offer the most jobs in Laos?
The majority of the local population is employed in the spheres of foresting and agriculture. However, expats in Laos will have many other options to choose from, starting from education and ending with IT.
🎓 Can I be a language tutor in Laos?
Yes. Many foreigners make their living by offering private language classes. Although English is in a higher demand, there are many locals who are willing to learn other European languages together with a native speaker.
🦠 Has COVID-19 anyhow affected the country’s employment market?
Unfortunately, as it with with most other countries in the world, the pandemic hit the country’s economy and employment market hard. However, Laos is now on its way to fixing the situation.
Economic Overview
Economic growth has been seeing slow growth over the last five years. The growth has been affected by natural disasters deescalating from 6.3 percent in2018 to 4.8 percent in 2019. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has also increased the unemployment rate. However, it has opened new avenues for job seekers, particularly the people who are new citizens of the country.
Job Opportunities in Laos
Teaching Career
Researching the job market for a new country is quite tiring and time taking. Looking at the economic and political environment of the country, teaching is observed as a promising career to opt for. Specifically, the expatriates, have great potential for teaching language courses, mainly English. Applying directly and indirectly on a contract basis can lend the groundwork for your job career. The average salary for an English teacher is between $500 to $1,000 US dollars.
Along with teaching at schools and colleges, another way to find a position in the market is by personally tutoring students. This can be done in two ways. One, asking the students to come to your residence. Or, to go to the residence of the students by yourself and charge a little more for personal tutoring. To opt-out of this opportunity, you can look in the local newspaper. Also, using various social media networking platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you can apply for different colleges.
Another very crucial aspect of the job market in Laos is getting a work permit. It can take years to get the permit. The number of years can be reduced if you can show some authentic work to the government. The overall social structure of the country is in a feeble situation currently affecting the overall stature of the job market and making it a little harder to get the permit, particularly for a new expatriate. In this scenario, working as an English language teacher appears to be an auspicious opportunity to look forward.
Translator Career
Laos, being a country with a lot of beautiful mountains and sites, is the attraction for many tourists around the year. As the people here are not that equivocal in English, there is a great space for the ex-pats to opt for the career as a translator. Translating and guiding them about places can be a great source for earning a living.
Things to consider while looking for a job in Pandemic Situation
Taking into account, the whole situation of the global pandemic and its aftermath on the world as a single entity is huge. The world has been in the blanket of the lockdown since the beginning of 2020. The prime minister of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith, also took different preventive measures to protect the country from the emerging virus.
The Prime Minister advised the local authorities to shift towards the new mode of working i.e. work from home. With the new normal, the work from the home initiative, new horizons have been apparent on the surface of the job opportunities. A boast in the online teaching modules has been observed. The students from the college are searching for home tutors from every corner of the world.
Teaching online
Now, that there is a great space to grow on the internet, and its high time to showcase your skills on the internet and tell the world about your talents. One of the blooming careers right now is to teach students all around the world using digital platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. This will help you greatly to build your resume as a tutor. Looking at the post-pandemic scenario, a resume full of experience will enhance your resume in other skills as well. In this way, you can build friendly relations with other people involved in the job market and learn from their experience.
Not only you will be able to get to know the mindsets of the people, but you’ll be able to gauge and weigh out the other career opportunities. Laos has been doing projects with the UN regarding the education index of the country. By teaching, you will be able to meet and contact the UN officials and that can lead to new opportunities in the educational sector. So, teaching is the most secure option as a job opportunity.
Content Writing
Another great avenue to delve into is the market world of the content writer. The new modes of learning and skill-sharing platforms are a great chance to make a living. There are numerous local companies and startups in the locality of Laos, looking for people to uplift their value by using young talents.
Content writing is a diverse field to work. Ranging from technical automobile companies to the nearby restaurants and cafés are looking for people to hire. If you are a fresh graduate, there are a million opportunities are waiting for you on sites such as Freelancer, Upwork, Fiverr, and many others.
How is the job employment in Laos for foreigners ?
To sum up, if you are thinking to move to Laos, above mentioned career options are great for the starting years in Laos, by opting one of those careers, you can easily get to know the working style and the environment of Laos, which in future years will help you to excel more.