Ms. Do Thi Loan (from Tam Duong, Vinh Phuc) spent her youth working in a factory in the Thang Long Industrial Park (Dong Anh, Hanoi ). She recalls a period when there was a lot of work and workers could "freely" work overtime, earning an average of 11 million VND per month.
Nearly two decades have passed, and from an initial income of just a few million dong per month, Ms. Loan's earnings have gradually increased. At this point, the female worker, now in her 40s, admits that the company is facing many difficulties, even more so than during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many businesses have experienced a decrease in orders, and workers' jobs have been affected (Illustrative photo: Pham Nguyen).
Orders plummeted, and workers had less work from the end of 2022. But by mid-2023, the company was no longer able to create jobs as before. In desperation, the employer had to persuade workers to voluntarily submit resignation letters.
"Some weeks I work four days, then have two weeks off. In the busiest months, I earn 7-8 million VND, but most of the time I only receive a meager 4 million VND," Ms. Loan said.
She is in her seventh month of pregnancy while her two young children are still in school. Her husband is also a factory worker, employed in the Binh Xuyen Industrial Zone ( Vinh Phuc province ).
With her entire family back in her hometown, Loan, pregnant and living alone in rented accommodation near the industrial zone, still felt attached to her job of 20 years, the source of income for herself and her family. However, the company currently had too little work, leaving her with no other option, so the female worker signed a voluntary resignation letter.
A few days later, she received her termination notice from the company along with a severance payment equivalent to nine months' salary for her 20 years of service. She quickly vacated her apartment and returned to her hometown to await childbirth.
"My whole family lives in the countryside, so when I quit my job, I wanted to give up my apartment as well. Partly because I wanted to go back to my children, but also to save on rent, utilities, etc.," Ms. Loan said.
Despite receiving a substantial financial support, the female worker has many worries and anxieties. Her husband's income is approximately 7 million VND per month. With elderly parents and two young children, the family's expenses are already heavy. She will soon be on maternity leave, and everything will depend on her husband's meager salary.
Therefore, her family had to tighten their belts, only spending on what was truly necessary. She hadn't even thought about buying a new outfit at this time.
Without breast milk, her first two children had to be fed formula, which was extremely expensive. For her third child, she prepared herself mentally and set aside a portion of her severance pay to cover diapers and formula for the first year of life.
Even now, the female worker hasn't figured out what she'll do after her maternity leave ends. At her age, she fears it will be difficult to find work. Besides the basic skills she's acquired over the years, she's only considering working as a factory worker in an industrial zone near her home.
A recent survey of nearly 3,000 workers by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor revealed that businesses reduced their size by almost 10% in 2022.
Many businesses predict a shortage of orders in the coming period (Illustrative image: Nguyen Son).
The shortage of orders is projected to continue into 2024. 17.2% of surveyed businesses indicated that the order shortage would worsen.
The average income of workers participating in the survey was nearly 8 million VND/month. Specifically, basic salary accounted for only 76.7% of monthly income, with the remaining 23.3% coming from overtime pay and other allowances and benefits from the company.
In addition, a survey of over 1,000 workers and 500 businesses in the manufacturing sector conducted by Navigos Group revealed that the majority of workers in this industry face salary cuts of 30-50%.
According to statistics, 58% of workers experienced a 30-50% reduction in total salary, 34% experienced a 10% reduction, and 6% experienced a 10-30% reduction. Only 2% experienced a reduction of more than 50% of total salary.
In addition, they also experienced reduced working hours, decreased overtime pay, and did not receive their usual benefits.
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