Hanoi (VNA) – Millions of Vietnamese labourers in both official and non-official sectors have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, figures released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show.

Millions of labourers affected by COVID-19 pandemic hinh anh 1The number of labourers registering for unemployment allowances is on the rise

Lessons learned from the fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 show that it is necessary to put forth a personnel strategy for both short and long terms amidst the outbreak of a pandemic.

Millions of labourers affected

Huong, an employee at a beauty salon on Tran Duy Hung Street, Hanoi, was informed about the salon’s closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic only two days before. Huong could not hide her anxiety as the salon even did not set the date of reopening.

Since the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, the number of regular clients to the salon has halved, while the salon found it hard to attract new customers, forcing it to reduce the pay for employees.

“I think that the salon is unlikely to reopen by the end of March or even the end of April given the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases. I don’t know what I should do during this time,” Huong said.

Millions of labourers affected by COVID-19 pandemic hinh anh 2Many household businesses in Hanoi have to close to ease public gatherings

Localities have taken different measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic in the community, including closing discos, bars, tourist and entertainment sites, karaoke parlors, gaming venues and cinemas.

Huong is among tens of thousands of labourers who have become jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic, as calculated by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

Localities reported that tens of thousands of household businesses have suspended operations due to the pandemic, most of them operating in services or sectors with products originating from China. Notably, their employees have no labour contracts or enjoy any allowances when they lose jobs. 

[Employers may get loans with zero percent interest to pay workers during work suspension]

Reports unveil that about 10 percent of firms scaled down their operations in February. The rate climbed to 15 percent in March, especially mid-March, when COVID-19 developed more complicatedly.

In the official sector, garment-textile firms have extended shifts, without overtime hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

Suspending labour export

Opportunities to work abroad have also been frozen as most of Vietnam’s traditional labour markets like Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Taiwan and Malaysia are grappling with the pandemic.

The number of guest workers in February still stood at 10,000 thanks to scheduled orders. However, labour export was suspended in March as the epidemic is getting worse.

Ban Van Quyen, from Nguyen Binh district in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang, has joined a Japanese language training course for almost one year and he expects to fly to Japan on April 5. However, his trip has been suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19.

The MoLISA’s Department of Overseas Labour Management has asked businesses specialising in labour export to report the number of workers who have to return home due to the epidemic.

The MoLISA has mapped out three scenarios for the domestic labour market.

Under the first scenario, if the pandemic is contained in March and the GDP growth rate in the first quarter drops by 0.3-0.5 percent as compared with the set target, the number of labourers who have working hours cut or lose jobs is predicted to hit 132,000 to 220,000.

If the pandemic maintains its present pace and the GDP growth rate contracts by 1-2 percent, the number of affected labourers would range from 440,000 to 880,000.

Meanwhile, under the third scenario when the GDP growth rate decreases by 2-3 percent, up to 1.32 million labourers would be affected.

The ministry estimated that the processing and manufacturing sector, transportation and warehouse services, and tourism are the hardest hit by the pandemic, accounting for 75-78 percent of the total number of affected employees./.

VNA