Working 17 hours/day, income reduced by 50%
Having been a tech driver for over 8 years, Mr. NH (35 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) frankly admitted that his income has recently decreased significantly. He is trying to find another better job, more suitable for himself after a series of days of "living on the street".
Faced with a wave of layoffs, many technology motorbike taxi drivers do not appear too worried (Illustration: Grab).
Every day, Mr. H. drives from 6am to 11pm. His income for 17 hours of work ranges from 300,000 to 400,000 VND. After deducting the cost of gas and food, he still has about 250,000 VND left over per day.
Mr. H. said that this income has decreased by 50% compared to 8 years ago. He works hard, but the money he earns can only support himself, not his wife and 2 small children. Because the family is often short of money, his wife also has to send the children away to find work.
Having worked for many years, Mr. H. has never witnessed such a lack of customers as he does now. This makes him disappointed in the job that he thought would be a savior for people without stable jobs like him.
Recently, as the number of people registering to become drivers increases, the level of competition becomes higher and each driver's customers and trips will have to be divided equally.
Regarding the news that Grab has just cut 1,000 jobs, equivalent to 11% of its total workforce, Mr. H. said he was not too concerned. For him, everything "goes as it goes."
With income reduced by up to 50%, many drivers said they will find another more suitable job (Illustration: Grab).
"If I don't have this job, I'll find another one. Because of the economic difficulties, drivers are forced to grit their teeth and endure to earn money to support their families. When the economy improves, I believe drivers will automatically leave," Mr. H. shared.
Sympathizing with H., Mr. NTH (26 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) said that he will stick around until he feels he can no longer stand it. If the wave of layoffs "come", Mr. H. will not think much about it.
"At worst, I'll go back to my hometown to herd cows. I'll have to accept the job I chose. This year is difficult, so I'll do as much as I can," TH confided.
Although he has only been a technology driver for nearly 5 months, TH can still clearly see the changes in this job. Working 12 hours, from 6pm to 6am the next morning, TH earns 300-350,000 VND. For night trips, TH is quite afraid of the danger, but his health does not allow him to drive during the day in the hot sun.
Swallowing tears to stick with the job for the children
Previously, Mr. NH was a computer technician with a low income. Not only that, the nature of the job was time-constrained, making it impossible for him to take care of his two young children. At that time, H. learned about the high-income, flexible-time job of driving a motorbike taxi, so he did not hesitate to quit his job to drive a motorbike taxi.
However, up to now, Mr. H. has been "disillusioned" because this job is too hard, and his income is decreasing compared to his initial expectations.
"This job has both joy and sadness. The joy is being able to go to many places, meet many customers, and learn many things in society. But the sad things are endless!", H. said.
H. has never forgotten the day he missed out on a 1.7 million VND order. That day was his daughter’s birthday. Despite following the correct procedures from the company, he was still refused support.
"At that time, I cried silently because I didn't have money to celebrate my child's birthday. For this job, I will try to stick with it until I find a new, more suitable job," H. confided.
Economists say that driving a motorbike taxi should not be considered a stable job (Illustration: An Chi)
Driver NTH shared that he also had many unforgettable memories during his work. It is impossible not to mention the times he drove drunk passengers or picked up passengers at places on the outskirts of the city. However, because of the need to make a living, he had to get used to it.
"Before, my salary was only 2.5 million VND, so I'm still quite satisfied with my current income. But in the long term, I probably won't. I still prefer life in my hometown Quang Ngai. One day when I save enough money, I will return to my hometown to get married and live," TH confided.
Dr. Huynh Thanh Dien (Lecturer at Nguyen Tat Thanh University) said that for technology drivers working part-time, having no jobs is normal.
Not only that, this job does not require any skills, anyone can do it, so the number of drivers is increasing, causing supply to exceed demand. At this point, the labor market will self-adjust, supply and demand will balance each other. From there, Mr. Dien predicts that there will not be many people working as technology motorbike taxi drivers anymore, the labor force will be "returned" to other industries.
Mr. Dien emphasized that the job of driving a motorbike taxi should not be considered a stable job, because it is only a "lifesaver" when workers are unskilled or do not know what to do. This job can only solve the problem of idle labor, it is not a job that brings long-term stability, "meaning it is not sustainable".
Grab is planning its biggest layoffs since the pandemic, as fierce competition in ride-hailing and food delivery across Southeast Asia has made it impossible for the company to continue operating as before.
The move means Grab’s upcoming layoffs could be larger in scale than the 2020 cutbacks, when the company laid off about 5% of its workforce, or 360 employees, as it geared toward profitability.
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