The COVID-19 epidemic has destroyed jobs of millions of Vietnamese workers. Now that the epidemic is under control, businesses are starting to restore production and put employees back to work.
Helping workers upgrade their skills
Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said the government policies and efforts to revive the economy will put 70,000 to 80,000 workers back to work. But localities and enterprises are being urged to restructure their human resources and renovate their technology and value chains.
Dung said: “It’s vital to re-train workers in order to increase their productivity. If businesses laid off a large number of workers, they will have to recruit new workers or face a worker shortage when they resume operation. We have proposed that the Prime Minister issue a decree on this issue and spend up to 214 million USD from the unemployment insurance fund to retrain workers. Approximately 1 million workers are expected to benefit from the program.”
Ngo Duy Hieu, a NA deputy for Hanoi, said it’s important to focus on key sectors in generating jobs: “Job demand in such sectors as internet services, e-commerce, garments, textiles, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical products will increase. The National Assembly and government need to introduce new incentive polices to encourage localities, ministries and sectors to reduce or exempt taxes, streamline administrative procedures, and create all favorable conditions for businesses growth.”
Balancing labor supply and demand
Many cities and provinces have started projects to supply workers. The Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has connected vocational training schools with labor associations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and labor services to provide vocational training. A survey indicates that by the end of April, more than 13,000 garment and textile jobs and jobs for mechanical engineers were needed.
In Dong Nai province, the Trade Union of Industrial Parks worked with businesses in the Bien Hoa industrial park to generate hundreds of jobs.
A program called “ Generating jobs to defeat COVID-19” launched in late April has created more than 200,000 jobs. Ho Anh Tuan, President of the Vietnam Corporate Culture Promotion Association, said: “We launched this program to connect enterprises with workers. Many businesses have resumed operation.”