Job loss pushes workers into misery

Companies’ job cuts have pushed workers into extremely difficult situations and an immediate solution is needed to prevent the current layoffs.

In November alone, tens of thousands of factory workers in southern provinces received dismissal notices as their firms lacked orders.

Suddenly losing jobs

Vo Thi Hanh and her two roommates, all garment workers at H.H Co., Ltd based in Vinh Long province's Binh Tan Industrial Park, were among the 300 laid-off workers this time. They received the dismissal notices only three days ahead of the effective date December 1.

Hanh said that in 2009 she left her hometown in the central province of Nghe An for Binh Duong with her husband to work as a garment worker. In early 2022, she moved to work for H.H Co., Ltd. in Vinh Long while her husband remained in Binh Duong as a security guard.

"My total monthly income was VND12 million ($500) and my husband’s was over VND8 million. But from September, I had to take rotational leave with reduced wage as my company lacked orders. My husband was fired in late October and now I am also laid off." Hanh lamented.

Talking about her upcoming plan, Hanh said that she and her husband will return to their hometown because the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is approaching, then they will come to Bac Ninh to apply for a job instead of going back to the south. Bac Ninh is an emerging manufacturing hub in the north with a Samsung plant and many satellite firms.

November 30 was the last working day of nearly 1,200 workers of Taiwanese-invested Footgearmex Footwear Co., Ltd in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan district. Losing their jobs at the time near Tet, the workers were both sad and worried.

"Working for the company for many years, no one thinks that they lose their job at this time. Everyone is sad and worried. We held a farewell party right on the street but no one could eat anything," said Bich, a worker of the company.

This can be considered the common sentiment of the 1,185 workers who lost their jobs. For Kim Hong and her husband from An Giang province, the sadness is even multiplied, as both had worked for this company for five years. They became dumbfounded when the company announced the termination of their labor contracts.

"When we received the notices, we were really shocked. It will be very difficult for my family as both of us lose jobs," Hong said.

Similarly, Nguyen Huong from Dong Thap province is very worried and does not know what to do to raise her two children when she was dismissed after a dozen of years working for the company.

The concern of Huong and other job losers is that it will be very difficult for them to find a new job immediately at the age of over 30.

Previously, on November 2, Footgearmex announced to lay off 1,185 out of its 1822 workers from December 1. Of those, 936 signed indefinite-term labor contracts and 249 inked labor contracts with definite terms.

The company’s leaders attributed the layoffs to the loss of orders as a result of the world economic downturn, which caused serious impacts on their partners.

"Despite many measures, the company was unable to restore operations as planned. Therefore, it had to scale down production and terminate labor contracts with workers," said a representative of the Taiwanese-invested firm.

In early October, Vietnam Samho Co., Ltd. in HCMC’s Cu Chi district had all orders cut off by a famous shoe brand, causing its factory's capacity to decrease by 30%. That meant 3,000 workers had no jobs to do. Some were sent to other workshops while the rest became jobless.

Half a month ago, the enterprise submitted a plan to cut 1,400 workers to the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for suitable measures to ensure the interests of workers.

Skilled workers in same situation

The job losses have hit not only factory workers but also high-skilled workers, office staff with average and high salaries, and even those holding important positions in companies.

Le Vy, a marketing team leader of a company specializing in medical equipment in HCMC’s District 10, has become unemployed when her company decided to lay off mid- and high-level employees to balance its payroll.

“I feel sad since I lose my job when Tet is nearing. I'm thinking of working as a shipper for a while," said Vy, who is the main breadwinner in her family.

Similar to Vy, Huynh Thien, a personnel manager of a confectionery and retail company based in the city’s Tan Binh district, said that he has worked as a shipper and done some other freelance jobs for more than a month to cover living costs, after the company laid off a series of managerial-level employees to balance its salary fund.

"At this time, it is very difficult to find a new job with a commensurate wage. So I had to work as a technology-based motorbike taxi driver and shipper, plus some other jobs. My life now is very hard. I can earn only VND400,000-500,000 ($21) a day from such jobs," Thien said.

Statistics from the Center for Population, Labor, and Employment Research show that currently, 20.6% of high-skilled workers are working as technology-based motorbike taxi drivers, 36.7% as technology-based shippers and 11.4% as domestic workers.

Deputy director of the HCMC Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Van Lam said that besides businesses forced to cut staff due to lack of orders and capital, many others in the city have a high recruitment demand in the year-end months.

"It is expected that in the year-end months, local businesses will need about 43,000 workers, mainly in the fields of trade, services and production," he said.

Lam said more than 2,800 workers in the southern metropolis have lost their jobs this year. However, data from localities showed that only three factories in Districts 12, Binh Tan and Cu Chi laid off over 3,400 workers. A shoe factory in Linh Trung II Export Processing Zone in Thu Duc city with more than 6,000 workers plans to cut off a large workforce because of a lack of orders.

According to the Social Security Agency of neighboring Binh Duong province, by the end of October, about 28,000 workers had stopped working. A survey by the provincial trade union showed that about 240,000 workers were affected by companies’ job cuts.

In Dong Nai, also next to HCMC, about 30,000 workers have had their contracts terminated in the past five months.

Statistics from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor indicated that as of December 1, 1,235 enterprises in 44 provinces and cities had to lay off workers due to production and business difficulties. More than 430,660 employees have had their working hours reduced and over 41,550 others have lost their jobs.

The Center for Strategic Analysis and Forecasting under the Institute of Labor and Social Sciences said the job cuts are forecast to last at least until the end of the first quarter of 2023.