On the 27th of Tet, Mr. Tri Nguyen, 42 years old, deputy director of a factory in Ho Chi Minh City, was called by his superiors to receive his termination decision.
"I expected the difficulty of orders," he said. "But what surprised me was that right after Tet, the company closed the factory and fired all employees, including long-time employees."
This is Tri Nguyen's second job loss in just over a year. When he lost his job in September 2022, he knew that his age had many disadvantages, so he did not rush to apply for a job right away but spent time learning new skills. But when he looked for a job again in May 2023, he gradually realized that times had changed. The desired positions were no longer as numerous as before. There were many cases of "devaluation" of salary, so even though he had reached the final interview round, he was still eliminated. It took him a full year of unemployment before he found another job with a similar position.
But in reality, the manufacturing industry is still facing difficulties, so he lost his job again after 5 months.
"I'm looking for a job right now because I see that the market is gradually recovering, so I have to be quick," he said. Since Tet, he has been trying to find a job, sending his CV to two places but has not been called for an interview.
After more than 20 years of working, Tri has never faced such difficulties as he does now. He and his wife have two school-age children and a mortgage loan in Binh Tan District. When the husband lost his job, the family was forced to tighten their spending. He said it was very painful every time he told his children that they had to stop learning music and English.
The biggest pressure is the fear that relatives will get their hopes up and then be disappointed after each time he quits his job. His children also ask why he doesn't go to work. Neighbors and friends gossip about him because they see that he has been unemployed for so long. He has to hide it from his family every time he goes for an interview because he is afraid that they will get their hopes up again.
"Losing jobs or failing interviews eroded my will and confidence terribly. Many times I felt like I was confined in a small space, unable to stretch my arms and legs," he confided.
Middle-aged workers complete procedures to receive unemployment benefits at the Hanoi Employment Service Center on the morning of March 13. Photo: Phan Duong
Taking the initiative to quit his job since the beginning of March, but the mood of Nguyen The Hung, a construction engineer in Hanoi, is not any better.
He intended to take a break after 30 years of work, but when he went to file for unemployment benefits, he came home so sad that he skipped lunch. "The first week, I was overwhelmed with feelings of loss and emptiness," the 53-year-old man said.
In the context of the real estate industry's decline, Mr. Hung's company has continuously failed to win bids. From someone who brought in projects worth thousands of billions, now he goes to work every day but has no work, no matter how hard he tries, it seems useless. Income has dropped by more than half. Last Tet, he did not get a single bonus.
"I thought quitting my job would be a release, but it wasn't. The feeling of lacking money, lacking a position, lacking admiration tormented me," he confided.
In 2023, the country will have more than one million people of working age unemployed, according to the General Statistics Office . The group of middle-aged workers being laid off tends to increase sharply, 1.6 times higher than in 2021. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, the number of people over 40 years old losing their jobs accounts for nearly 30%. Experts assess that 2024 will be a difficult year for middle-aged workers and the unemployment rate will increase faster.
After the wave of mass resignations (great resignation) due to the need to balance life - work during Covid-19 or "quiet quitting" two years ago, 2023 and into 2024 will be the year of quiet firing or mass layoffs occurring strongly in technology companies as well as labor-intensive industries such as textiles, footwear in Vietnam.
Navigos' latest report in January 2024 showed that 18.4% of businesses will not recruit new employees, nearly 60% of businesses will only recruit less than 25% of their workforce.
"Opportunities for candidates will become more limited regardless of age. This also increases the risk of job loss and hinders job opportunities for middle-aged workers, who are affected by the '35-year-old curse'," said Mr. Bui Doan Chung, founder of the Vietnam Human Resources Community.
Ms. Dam Thi Thu Trang, CEO of a human resource recruitment company in Hanoi, said that in 2024, many industries will continue to cut staff, focusing on redundant senior and middle-level positions. Workers with seniority and high salaries will be replaced by subordinates or newcomers, paid less and possibly holding multiple positions.
According to this HR expert, when laid off during economic instability, older workers are especially vulnerable. "A group that cannot adapt to the new work context is more likely to be laid off and has a harder time finding a job," Ms. Trang added. In addition, prejudices against older workers such as "conservative" and "unwilling to learn new things" put middle-aged workers in a much more difficult situation.
As someone who has supported and interviewed many older employees over the past 18 years, Mr. Chung said the most important thing for middle-aged workers is to "dare to renew themselves", "step out of their comfort zone" to do jobs they have never done before or jobs that require a high level of depth and expertise.
The time of unemployment is a valuable break to review expertise, strengths, learn foreign languages and technology as well as find a new related job direction that you can do until retirement. This also helps employers to better evaluate your level of responsiveness and ability to adapt and be flexible to the new working environment.
"Sometimes the perception that older workers have 'big egos and high inertia' is just bias. Many of the people I have met over the years are very proactive in learning and have open minds," said Mr. Chung.
Ms. Hong Anh (name changed), 41 years old, a single mother of two children in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City is an example. Anh used to be a representative of a Hong Kong company in Vietnam whose contract was unilaterally terminated at the end of 2023. At first, she was shocked to learn that the incident was not her fault but just an excuse for dismissal.
But she quickly accepted the fact that she had lost her job and got back on her feet. During the Tet holidays, Anh learned how to use the social network Linkedin to connect with HR people, learned a foreign language and reviewed her legal knowledge. She is currently on probation at a new company with many favorable conditions.
"Suddenly losing my job made me realize that I always have to be prepared for unpredictable changes. Looking back, I also see that I have rested on my laurels," she said.
Currently, Mr. Tri has studied for the Chief Production Officer (CPO) and Total Quality Management (TQM) certificates to serve his profession. He also intends to change his career path to become a manager or business operator, or a representative of a foreign company instead of his current production expertise, so he has registered for the CEO course.
"I also prepare to be ready to start my own business in the future if there is another crisis because the older I get, the harder it is to find a job," he shared.
As for Mr. Hung, at the age of 53, he has decided not to return to the construction industry because he is not healthy enough and does not have the ability to compete with his younger colleagues. He will temporarily receive one year of unemployment benefits and then retire because he has 30 years of insurance.
Although his youngest child is about to graduate from college and his oldest is able to support himself, he said he still needs to work to save for his old age. "I'm thinking of becoming a security guard," he said, adding that his engineering degree will probably never be used again.
Phan Duong
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