Only 1,000/154,000 people registered for vocational training
Ms. Thoa has worked for 13 years at a company in the Northwest Industrial Park (Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City). In July, Thoa quit her job and received 12 months of unemployment benefits. However, in September, Thoa went to work at a garment factory near her home. In order to avoid losing her unemployment benefits, Thoa agreed with the factory owner not to participate in social insurance.
Talking about her decision, Thoa said: "I have just received unemployment benefits of more than 4 million VND per month, and I have a salary. And my salary is not deducted 8% for social insurance, so my income is a little higher than when I worked at the previous company."
According to insurance experts, cases like Thoa’s are not uncommon. Workers often choose immediate benefits without thinking about possible risks.
Unemployment insurance policy has been implemented since 2009. The policy's goal is to support workers with a portion of their income when they unfortunately lose their jobs, support vocational training and provide job counseling and referrals, and help workers return to the labor market soon.
However, many workers think this is an additional income, and they take time off every few years to receive benefits.
On the labor forum, the question "How to avoid having unemployment benefits cut when returning to work?" is of great interest to many members. Many people enthusiastically share their "secret" to receiving benefits and their salary at the same time.
Unemployed workers often want to receive all their unemployment benefits before going back to work (Illustration: Hai Long).
According to a report by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, from January 1 to November 31, the labor management agency received more than 156,000 applications for unemployment benefits, issuing decisions on unemployment benefits for nearly 154,000 workers.
Compared to the same period in 2022, the number of applications increased by nearly 11% (more than 14,000 people), and the number of decisions to receive benefits increased by more than 11% (an increase of nearly 16,000 cases).
However, among nearly 154,000 workers receiving unemployment benefits, only more than 1,000 people registered for vocational training to change jobs.
Ms. Nguyen Van Hanh Thuc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center, said that in the past 11 months, the center has organized 134 job fairs, providing consultation to about 619,000 workers and introducing jobs to 170,000 people.
However, the situation of finding jobs for the unemployed is very difficult. The difficulty here is not that there are no jobs, but that the unemployed do not want to take jobs.
Ms. Nguyen Van Hanh Thuc said: "Most of the people who come to the center to apply for unemployment benefits do not want to find a job. The workers' wish is to start looking for a job after receiving all their unemployment benefits."
Refusing to look for work because of benefits
According to Ms. Hanh Thuc, unemployed people receive at least 3 months of unemployment benefits, and at most 12 months, and most of them want to use up the benefits before looking for another job. Right from when workers apply for benefits, the center provides job counseling, but few people are interested. When they are about to use up their benefits, workers are interested in the jobs the center introduces.
"When approaching workers while they are still receiving unemployment benefits, most of them refuse to look for jobs. This is also the city's challenge to bring unemployed people back to the labor market," said Ms. Hanh Thuc.
Ms. Nguyen Van Hanh Thuc presented the difficulties in solving employment for the unemployed (Photo: Tung Nguyen).
This situation has been around for a long time, not just this year. At the end of 2022, Mr. Hien, the HR director of a garment company, shared that the company's HR department went to the gate of another garment company to distribute recruitment flyers when they heard that the company had laid off more than 1,000 workers.
However, after several days of distributing flyers and soliciting workers, Mr. Hien was unable to recruit any workers. According to Mr. Hien, thousands of people lost their jobs but they were all waiting for unemployment benefits, not paying attention to finding new jobs.
In February, Pouyuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. planned to cut more than 2,300 workers. The Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center also connected with 15 businesses, preparing 3,200 job positions to introduce to the above cut workers, but when consulting, only 46 workers were looking for jobs.
A survey by the Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center shows that 40% of workers who registered for unemployment benefits have a college degree or higher, most of whom proactively agreed with their employers to terminate their labor contracts before the end of their term to rest, rather than lose their jobs. They then decide for themselves when to return to the labor market after receiving all their unemployment benefits.
According to the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center, the center is studying a proposal to stipulate that only those who have actually lost their jobs will receive unemployment benefits when amending the Employment Law. Currently, those who are working but wish to quit their jobs and complete the proper procedures for quitting their jobs are also eligible for unemployment benefits.
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