It is hard enough to get a job without proper certifications in more peaceful times, but just 2 weeks after the epidemic put Tram (22 years old) out of her job at a restaurant, she has found a new source of income.
Since schools and kindergartens are closed, many young children are left home alone, and Tram uses the opportunity to insert herself into babysitting gigs around the neighborhood.
After some asking around, Tram was assigned a fourth-grader and a three-year-old and is paid VND300,000 per day (about $12.5), which is much lower than her wages at the restaurant but still better than nothing during an epidemic.
She also recommends this type of work to her out-of-work friends but not every parent is willing to entrust their young children to just anyone.
One of the most common seasonal jobs right now in Vietnam is food delivery, since sensible citizens are refraining from going outside. A delivery person can make about VND300,000-700,000 a day if they put their all into it.
“I always equip myself with medical masks and the likes when on deliveries”, a “shipper” named Hieu (23 years old) said.
Seeing that her small vegetable shop is not doing too well since the virus outbreak, Van (27 years old) offered a shopping service to her relatives and acquaintances on Facebook. Her staff would receive shopping lists from calling customers or texts on Facebook Messenger and contact the store’s suppliers at the end of the day.
Since customers can expect their goods to be delivered straight from the store the following morning, it would keep the food fresh and minimize exposure to bacteria, Van said.
The next morning, fresh food will be delivered to the store and staff will deliver it to the customer's home. “This approach will help fresh food, especially fish meat, be properly stored until the door of the buyer. In addition, food also limits contact with many people before being taken home”, Thuy Van shared. Customers spread the word about this convenient service, causing the number of orders to increase very quickly, sales were higher than before the outbreak.
As a matter of fact, many online sellers learned to seize the chance and step out of their usual boundaries to promote their goods and social media content. When Thuy (21 years old) was forced to stop taking orders of raw food stuff for safety reasons, she switched to selling fresh fruits and even started making videos of healthy recipes. She gained 3,000 followers on her business page and an increased number of online orders during the last two months.
