The ongoing economic downturn has led to an increasing number of enterprises laying off workers in Ho Chi Minh City in the first six months of the year, which has resulted in a surge in unemployment insurance claims.
A total of 80,000 laid-off workers in the City claimed unemployment benefits during this period, said Nguyen Cao Thang, deputy director of the HCMC Employment Service Center, with many of these workers being unskilled, on salaries of VND2-3 million a month.
Many of the laid-off workers registering for benefits are those working in labor-intensive jobs in the industrial production sector such as textiles, garments and footwear.
According to a recent survey conducted in some industrial parks in the City by the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions and the Party Central Commission for Communication and Education, workers receive an average salary of VND2-3 million per month, while up to 65 per cent of the workers are migrants who live in rented houses and have to support their families in their hometown.
They face many difficulties and have to seek part-time jobs after working hours. For instance, Cao Thi Loan, a worker in Binh Tan District sells vegetables after work and her husband, also a worker, goes to wholesale markets to buy cheap products. They work hard to earn more money to send back home, where two of their children live with their grand-parents.
Another couple, Ho Cong Thuy and his wife, sell balloons and snacks in front of a factory after working hours. Many other workers find jobs as maids, tailors or shop helpers.
This year, around 5,000 enterprises in the City have filed for bankruptcy in the first quarter of the year, 4.6 times higher than that in the same period last year, according to a report released by the HCMC People's Committee.
