Though labor market in the end of 2020 has changed positively, demand for new workers still dropped by 21 percent compared to the same period last year due to impact of coronavirus pandemic.
A 37-year-old man in Binh Tan District has been seeking a stable job. He has 10 -year experience in warehouse. This year, he got unemployed because of Covid-19 impact. He lived on unemployment payment.
The man is one of the 158,500 jobless people who have registered to receive unemployment payment in first nine months of the year.
Director of the Employment Service Center Le Thi Kieu Phuong said that the proportion of out-of-work laborers registering unemployment benefit in the first nine months of 2020 increased by 24 percent compared to the same period.
The center , she added, has received most unemployment registration amongst 63 cities and provinces across the country accounting for 1/5 of the whole country’s unemployment insurance documents.
According to the city Human Resources Forecast and Labour Market Information (Falmi) Center, of nearly 16,800 firms, 70 percent of them bumped into difficulty in production because of impacts of Covid-19.
Falmi Deputy Direictor Do Thanh Van said that enterprises have been facing financial difficulties so they have to let employees take turn in work shifts or end labor contracts. Workforce demand in four major industries including mechanics, electronics and IT, food and foodstuff processing, chemical-rubber declined by 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
Concerning high and medium-level labor market, Navigos Group’s statistics pointed out recruitment demand has dropped 23.5 percent compared to the same period last year especially in textile and garment sector.
Workers in textile and garment sector have been facing high risk of unemployment even when Covid-19 is under control because of low consumption of clothes. Many textile and garment enterprises switched to making facemasks and medical protective clothing.
Thanh Nguyen, Anphabe Chief Opportunity Connector, said that when the coronavirus pandemic hit Vietnam, 40 percent of local firms admitted that salary is the biggest financial burden. Companies cut its workforce dramatically inthe first six months of the year without precedent. In the last months of the year, enterprises have still laid off employees to cut spending.
Accordingly, Director of the HCMC Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Le Minh Tan said the department has organized some activities to support laid-off workers to overcome difficulties including opening employment fairs to help them in the way to find new job.
In other side, some enterprises started its plan for recruitment of new workers for the year-end orders. The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs strived to maintain employment by supporting enterprises that keep its workers. Moreover, city authorities listened to enterprises’ opinions to find out the way to help them.
Falmi Deputy Direictor Do Thanh Van said that labor market in year-end months will change positively in official and non-official sectors. The labor market has shown recovery, yet employment demand still decreased. In the fourth quarter of 2020, HCMC needs 62,000 – 65,000 employment, down by 21 percent compared to the same period last year.
