Starting this month, over 800 employees at electronics manufacturer Datalogic in Ho Chi Minh City have seen their salaries increase by 7.6 percent.

CEO Tran Tien Phat said other post-social-distancing support include a stipend of VND7.5 million ($325.80), a 13th-month salary and lucky money during upcoming Tet, Vietnam’s biggest holiday that falls in February.

A worker is seen at the factory of Datalogic in HCMC.

The company has had to make adjustments in its spending to have money for the pay rise, he added.

In Binh Tan District, Saigon Aquatic Products Trading JSC has decided to give its over 400 employees a pay rise of at least 5 percent starting next year.

It already gave them a 10-percent rise in basic salary during the second quarter this year, boosting their average income to nearly VND9 million.

CEO Truong Tien Dung said this year has been challenging with the working onsite model and rising costs to fight Covid-19 while productivity fell.

"We are trying to gradually lessen our loss and keep manufacturing stable to find an opportunity to bounce back," he said, adding to accomplish this goal, the company needs to retain its workers.

Without a pay increase, workers will struggle in the upcoming period when inflation rises and they might leave, he added.

Millions of workers left HCMC, Dong Nai and other major southern industrial hubs in the third quarter and October as restrictions to curb the Covid-19 pandemic saw them lose their jobs and run out of cash.

This is why southern factories are struggling to attract enough workers to resume production as many workers remain in their hometown without planning to return.

A recent survey by the Food and Foodstuff Association of HCMC shows that most of its 400 members plan a 5-10 percent pay increase to make up for inflation and share the burden with workers.

The reverse migration of workers to their hometowns has left behind a labor shortage at many factories, said Dung, also deputy chairman of the association.

Tran Viet Anh, deputy chairman of the HCMC Union of Business Associations, said many factories regularly increase pay to retain high-skilled laborers, and not simply when prompted by the government.

Foreign direct investment companies in the industries of electronics and precise machinery often increase pay by the end of the year when re-evaluating employee contracts.

Huynh Van Tuan, chairman of the labor union covering HCMC’s manufacturing zones, said the minimum salary in the city remained unchanged at VND4.42 million a month in 2020 and this year, and would likely do so next year.

This is why companies have been increasing salaries to prevent workers from leaving after Tet, which is common.

A recent survey by a recruitment company involving 54,000 workers show a third have received a pay increase on an average of 8 percent compared to the year before.

Bac Giang employs 42,000 more labours to work at industrial parks

(BGO) – Amid the complicated development of Covid-19 pandemic this year, though Bac Giang province used to be the epicenter of Vietnam and suspended the operation of all industrial parks (IPs), to date, six IPs with 385 enterprises have resumed normal activities with more than 192,000 labours, up 20 companies and over 42,000 labours comparing to the figure early this year.

Bac Giang connects job demand and supply for labours returning home

(BGO) – After the fourth Covid-19 outbreak, especially in the Southern provinces and cities, Bac Giang has picked up numerous labours back home. To ensure the social welfare and create jobs to them, the local authorities, sectors and localities have paid due attention to connecting the demand and supply between businesses and workers.

Job opportunities introduced to pandemic-affected labourers in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City's Youth Employment Services (YES) Centre and the Federations of Labour of the city and Go Vap district held an event on November 14 to introduce employment opportunities to labourers who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 290,000 labours in Bac Giang resume normal work

(BGO) – Since late April 2021, the Trade Union at all levels in the northern province of Bac Giang have actively joined hands together with authorities and businesses to highly focus all resources to prevent and control Covid-19 pandemic as well as call labours back to work so as to assist the business recovery and production acceleration in post pandemic period.

Over 41,000 labours aided from Unemployment insurance fund

(BGO) – Implementing Government’s Resolution No.116/NQ-CP about supporting employees and employers affected by Covid-19 pandemic from Unemployment insurance fund (UIF), as of October 21, the Social Insurance in Bac Giang province paid for over 41,000 labours with total amount of 94.4 billion VND (4.1 million USD) (six rates ranging from 1.8 to 3.3 million VND per person).

Source: VnExpress