Unemployment in Vanuatu

The Vanuatu Bureau of Statistics recorded 211,922 working-age people, a labour force of 105,491 and a participation rate of 49.8% in its first Labour Force Survey in 2025. The survey recorded a 4.5% unemployment rate, but the broader LU4 labour-underuse measure was 24.6%. LU4 captures a wider problem than open unemployment, including people with insufficient work or limited availability. Among people aged 15 to 24, the NEET rate was 44.3%; NEET means not in employment, education or training. Informal employment accounted for 58.5% of total employment, while 60.3% of working-age people engaged in subsistence activity. These figures show why the headline unemployment rate does not fully reflect low hours, underemployment or exclusion from formal and rural work. There was no annual official unemployment series before the 2025 survey. Employment support is fragmented. Leba Konect, also known as Employment Vanuatu, is a free public job portal operated through the Department of Labour and Employment Services. It provides vacancy searches, online applications and status tracking, career advice, counselling, contract orientation, vacancy information and labour statistics. Registration requires a valid National ID or Birth Registration Number, an age of at least 15, email verification and a profile containing job preferences, a CV, qualifications and work experience. The portal covers agricultural, craft, service, professional, part-time, civil-service and casual work. Digital access and connectivity can limit its use. In-person services are available through Employment Services Unit and Employment Services Centre offices in Port Vila, Luganville, Lakatoro and Lenakel. Registration and job advertisements are free, and registration does not create a claim to an unemployment payment or a statutory claimant obligation. A person seeking work can use domestic vacancies or labour-mobility pathways such as New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme and Australia's Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme. Some seasonal-worker pathways require a Pre Departure Briefing before departure. These routes provide access to work, not a standing unemployment benefit. The 2025–2030 National Employment Policy prioritises youth employment, job creation, skills, labour mobility, gender, and social protection. Losing a job can create rights under the Employment Act [CAP 160]. For an unspecified-term contract, section 49 concerns notice. A Department of Labour guide gives 14 days for less than three years of service and three months for at least three years in a monthly-pay example; the contract and pay interval should be checked because the applicable notice can depend on those terms. The employer may pay in lieu of notice. After at least 12 months of continuous employment, severance allowance can apply in cases including employer termination, good-faith resignation and other statutory situations. The allowance is one month's remuneration for each completed 12-month period, plus a pro-rata amount of one twelfth for an additional month, and it is payable when employment ends. Serious misconduct can exclude severance, as can recruitment outside Vanuatu where the worker is not ordinarily resident. A court can award up to six times the statutory amount for unjustified termination under section 56(4). The employer, not an unemployment-insurance fund, carries this liability. The DOLES Industrial Relations service can provide employment-relations advice and handle complaints through mediation, conciliation and arbitration. The Public Solicitor's Office may provide legal advice and civil representation to people who satisfy its means and merits requirements. A worker should keep the employment contract, pay records, termination notice and evidence of communications when checking notice or severance. The Vanuatu National Provident Fund, or VNPF, is a retirement and savings scheme rather than unemployment cover. Formal employees earning at least VT 3,000 per month and aged 14 to 55 generally contribute compulsorily at a total rate of 8%, split equally between employee and employer. When work stops, the account balance remains in the fund without a holding fee, and unemployment alone does not permit withdrawal. Withdrawals may instead be available at retirement age 55, between ages 47 and 54 subject to criteria and a maximum of 50%, or in cases such as permanent emigration, death or medical incapacity. Informal or non-employed people can join voluntarily with contributions of at least VT 1,000 and up to VT 100,000. On re-employment, the worker should provide the existing VNPF account details to the new employer. VNPF hardship or disaster assistance and loans, humanitarian cash transfers and community support have been documented during shocks such as Tropical Cyclone Harold, COVID-19 and Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin. These are temporary responses rather than a continuing unemployment entitlement. Because formal coverage is limited, households outside formal employment may rely on subsistence activity, family and community support or remittances while seeking work.