Sharing the hardships
At present, many enterprises have to lay off some of their workforce due to the economic downturn. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) have come up with a number of practical solutions to help workers, especially pregnant women and others who are off sick. Under the Prime Minister’s decision No 30/2009/QD-TTG, those workers who have lost their jobs can borrow capital from the national fund to seek new jobs or access vocational training. As for enterprises, which cannot pay salaries, social insurances or unemployment allowances to their workers, they will be offered preferential loans without paying interest for 12 months.

The Chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs, Truong Thi Mai, said the MoLISA should find out the exact number of workers and businesses that have encountered difficulties so that they can accurately estimate the State budget. This is only a temporary solution for loss-making enterprises. What’s more important is how to restructure the economy properly, said Ms Mai. 

In fact, the quality of human resources is still far from keeping pace with the development of the national economy. The lack of skilled workers is a common occurrence in industrial parks and export processing zones. Many enterprises in Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces find it difficult to have skilled workers.

Against this background, the government’s recent decision to allow unemployed workers to borrow capital for vocational training is paying off. Businesses and workers are joining efforts to surmount economic difficulties while trade unions at grassroots level are helping workers to seek jobs.

Recently, the VGCL has established an employment support fund to help workers and young mothers off sick. The Vietnam Garments and Textiles Group has helped loss-making enterprises to maintain production without cutting their workforce.

Brighter future
Dang Quang Dieu, a VGCL official, said that around 300,000 people will be laid off from now until June 2009. However, from June until the end of 2009, along with the government’s drastic measures, the rate of unemployment will be gradually reduced.

Do Thi Xuan Phuong, deputy director of the Hanoi department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said that the number of employees who lost their jobs in 2008 amounted to 10,707 and the figure is expected to drop to just 5,000 in 2009.

For example, Sumi-Hanel - one of the companies with the largest numbers of workers in Sai Dong Industrial Park in Hanoi’s Long Bien district - had the number of orders reduced by 40 percent before and after the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), and many employees worked only two or three days a week. It is expected that there will be a sharp rise in orders by May to keep them fully employed.

Phan Van Thang, the trade union’s chair at Sumi-Hanel confirmed that the workers who recently lost their jobs have been called back to work. In the near future, the company will need more workers to run new production lines.

Since Tet, many enterprises have announced their recruitment plans such as the X20 Company, the Song Long Plastics Factory, the Hoa Phat Refrigeration Engineering Co, Ltd, the Cuu Long Automobile Factory, Mitsustar, and the My Hung Garment Co, Ltd.

These are positive signs in the labour market and the prospects for Vietnam’s workforce will be brighter by late 2009.