472,000 rendered jobless, underemployed as economic slowdown casts its shadow

A total of 472,210 workers of 1,236 firms in 44 localities have either lost their jobs or had working hours curtailed this year on the back of a global slowdown.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) also said Monday that the jobless count was 41,558 (8.8% of the total) and 430,665 (91.2%) are having to contend with reduced working hours, extended leave without payment, or suspended labor contracts.

The employers include 646 domestic private businesses (52.27% of the total) with 118,889 employees (25.18% of the total), and 590 foreign-invested enterprises (47.73%) with 353,324 employees (74.82%).

The biggest impacts of the downturn have been felt by the garment and textile sector with 226 firms (18.28%); wood processing with 196 (15.86%); footwear with 109 (8.82%); and electronics with 62 (5.02%) firms.

The highest number of affected workers are in the footwear industry at 171,414 (36.3%); apparel with 131,340 (27.81%); wood processing with 63,681 (13.49%); and electronics with 13,535 (4.14%).

The labor confederation also said that 30 companies have yet to pay wages of VND110 billion ($4.44 million) in wages to 6,946 people and 121 have yet to pay social insurance premiums worth VND238 billion for 32,315 employees.

The VGCL noted that the country has recorded 144 collective labor strikes this year, up 53 cases year-on-year, because wages have remained unchanged for two years, firms have reduced benefits, not paid wages on time and other issues.

It asked labor unions to negotiate with employers and minimize layoffs and make plans to ensure payment of Lunar New Year bonuses and other benefits.

Vietnam's unemployment rate dropped 1.7 percentage points year-on-year to 2.28% in the third quarter, the lowest since 2020, said the General Statistics Office. Amid the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery, its workforce rose 1.2 million or 2.4% year-on-year to 51.6 million people in the first three quarters of this year.