More than 1 million people apply for unemployment benefits

On the morning of December 26, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) held a conference to deploy tasks for labor, meritorious people and social affairs in 2024.

According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the labor market in 2023 will continue to recover, the labor force and the number of employed people will continue to increase compared to the previous year.

Industrial parks, export processing zones, and key economic regions have basically maintained a stable workforce; the situation of hundreds of thousands of workers being forced to take time off, quit, or lose their jobs in enterprises since the fourth quarter of 2022 has cooled down in the last months of 2023; indicators of the workforce, unemployment rate, rate of trained workers, employed workers, and workers' income are basically stable.

The ministry cited a quick report from localities showing that the number of workers who took time off or had their work suspended nationwide in the third quarter was about 54,200, mainly in the leather, footwear and textile industries. However, the number of people who lost their jobs in the third quarter of 2023 was over 118,000, down more than 99,000 compared to the previous quarter, concentrated in Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.

This result is due to the labor sector introducing jobs to unemployed people in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hai Duong right after businesses cut labor due to lack of orders.

"The situation of hundreds of thousands of workers being forced to take time off, furlough, quit, or lose their jobs at businesses, which has been happening since the fourth quarter of 2022, has cooled down in the last months of 2023," the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said.

According to Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the city created jobs for over 315,000 people, reaching 105.3% of the yearly plan. Of which, 141,000 new jobs were created, reducing the unemployment rate to below 4%.

Mr. Duong Anh Duc said that in 2023, many large enterprises will have to cut their workforce due to a lack of orders. To overcome the difficulties, the city has directed departments and branches to support unemployed workers to stabilize their lives by finding new jobs and paying unemployment benefits, thereby limiting strikes, work stoppages, and collective work stoppages.

Ms. Bach Lien Huong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the city has created new jobs for over 214,000 people, reaching over 132% of the plan, with the urban unemployment rate below 3%.

The reason is that the locality closely coordinates with businesses to introduce jobs to workers while organizing direct and online job fairs with neighboring localities such as Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen...

Regarding the overseas labor market, last year, solutions to stabilize and develop the overseas labor market were promoted; the work of selecting, training and sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad under contracts was managed more closely.

In 2023, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs sent more than 150,000 workers to work abroad under contracts, reaching 129% of the annual plan, an increase of 8.55% compared to 2022, reaching the highest level ever.

Event - More than 1 million people apply for unemployment benefits — More than 1 million people applied for unemployment benefits in 11 months of 2023. Illustration photo: congdoan.vn

In terms of social security, the development of social insurance participants continued to have many positive changes. For the whole year, the rate of working-age workers participating in social insurance was about 39.25%; the rate of working-age workers participating in unemployment insurance was over 31.58%, reaching and exceeding the set targets.

Unemployment insurance policies are fully and promptly implemented. By the end of November 2023, the total number of people applying for unemployment benefits was more than 1 million, an increase of 12.6% over the same period in 2022, and the number of people with decisions to receive unemployment benefits was 955,058, an increase of 9.5%.

The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has fully and promptly implemented regular subsidy policies and regimes for more than 1.1 million beneficiaries with an annual budget of about VND 29,000 billion; and one-time subsidies for 2,332 people with a total budget of VND 100 billion.

Implement monthly social assistance policies for more than 3.3 million social protection beneficiaries and 354,340 households and individuals who receive monthly care and support for beneficiaries.

Child protection and care work is promoted; social assistance services are maintained and timely detection, resolution, and reporting of issues and incidents of violence, child abuse, and child rights-related issues to the National Child Protection Hotline (number 111).

The sector has also mobilized social resources to support children in special circumstances. Up to now, the Vietnam Children's Fund has mobilized 110 billion VND; directly supported 68,011 children with a budget of 50.605 billion VND; indirectly supported 57,489 children with a budget of 48.485 billion VND.

At the Conference, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung requested a thorough assessment of the achieved results, finding out the causes in the coming time, especially finding solutions to solve existing problems in 2024.

Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung commented that 2023 is a mid-term, pivotal year, which is considered to be of great significance. In a year full of difficulties and challenges, with close leadership and direction from all levels, with the determination of civil servants and employees in the whole sector, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has synchronously, flexibly and effectively implemented tasks and solutions in the fields of labor, meritorious people and society; promptly handled and responded to policies; while performing regular tasks, it also focused on handling backlogs and newly arising issues.

Minh Hoa (reported by Lao Dong, Tuoi Tre)

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