Pregnant worker checks out and returns home because of... lack of work

Ms. Do Thi Loan (in Tam Duong, Vinh Phuc) spent her youth working in a factory in Thang Long Industrial Park (Dong Anh, Hanoi). She remembers the period when there was a lot of work, workers were free to work overtime, she had an average income of 11 million VND/month.

Nearly two decades have passed, from a starting point of several million VND/month, Ms. Loan's income has gradually increased. Up to this point, the female worker has turned 40 and has to admit that the company is facing many difficulties, even more than during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many businesses have seen a reduction in orders, affecting workers' jobs (Illustration: Pham Nguyen).

Orders plummeted, workers had little work from the end of 2022. But by mid-2023, the company could not create jobs as before. As a last resort, the employer had to encourage workers to voluntarily resign.

"Some weeks I work 4 days, then have 2 weeks off. The month I work the most I earn 7-8 million VND, but most of the time I only get 4 million VND," Loan said.

She is entering her 7th month of pregnancy while her 2 children are still in school. Her husband is also a worker, working in Binh Xuyen Industrial Park (Vinh Phuc).

The whole family is in the countryside, only Ms. Loan is pregnant and living in a rented house near the industrial park. Still attached to the job she has been working for 20 years, the place that provides income to support herself and her family, but the company is currently too short of work, with no other choice, the female worker signed a voluntary resignation letter.

A few days later, she received a decision to terminate her employment from the company along with a 9-month salary allowance for 20 years of seniority, then quickly checked out and returned to her hometown to wait for the day she gave birth.

"My whole family lives in the countryside, so when I quit my job, I also wanted to move out of the house. Partly because I want to be with my children, but also to save on rent, electricity and water costs...", Ms. Loan said.

Despite the large amount of support, the female worker still has many worries and concerns. Her husband's income is about 7 million VND/month. The family has elderly parents and two small children, so the expenses are also heavy. Now she is on maternity leave, and everything depends on her husband's meager salary.

Therefore, her family has to tighten their budget, spending only on what is really necessary. She has not even thought about a new set of clothes at this time.

Without breast milk, her first two children had to be fed with expensive formula. When she gave birth to her third child, she also prepared mentally and took a portion of her severance pay to pay for diapers and milk for her children in their first year of life.

Until now, the female worker has not yet decided what she will do after her maternity leave ends. At an old age, she is afraid that it will be difficult to find a job. Besides the simple skills she has acquired over the years, she only thinks of choosing to work as a worker in an industrial park near her home.

A survey of nearly 3,000 workers recently released by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor shows that businesses will reduce their size by nearly 10% in 2022.

Many businesses predict a shortage of orders in the coming time (Illustration: Nguyen Son).

The shortage of orders is expected to continue until 2024. 17.2% of surveyed businesses said the shortage of orders will increase.

The average income of employees participating in the survey is nearly 8 million VND/month. Specifically, basic salary accounts for only 76.7% of monthly income, the other 23.3% comes from overtime pay and allowances and benefits from the enterprise.

In addition, a survey of more than 1,000 workers and 500 businesses in the manufacturing sector by Navigos Group showed that the majority of workers in this industry face a 30-50% salary cut.

According to statistics, 58% of workers had their total salary cut by 30-50%, 34% had their total salary cut by 10%, and 6% of workers had their total salary cut by 10-30%. Only 2% had their total salary cut by more than 50%.

In addition, they also had their working hours cut, overtime pay reduced and did not receive the usual benefits.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/cong-nhan-bung-bau-vuot-mat-tra-phong-ve-que-vi-it-viec-20230811145811603.htm