At the press conference (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow on the Vietnamese labour market, with 69.2 percent of labourers receiving less income than before pandemic, heard a press conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) on January 6.
Deputy head of the GSO Pham Quang Vinh said a total of 32.1 million workers aging 15 and above were affected by the adverse impact of the pandemic in 2020.
Of the total, 39.9 percent suffered cuts to working hours or were put on temporary rotational leave, while 14 percent lost their jobs or were furloughed.
The service sector was the most heavily impacted, with 71.6 percent of its workers affected, followed by the industrial and construction sector with 64.7 percent. Meanwhile, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector fared better with only 26.4 percent of the workforce impacted.
Vinh said the labour market in Quarter 4 improved from the previous quarters, with higher income and lower unemployment rate in urban areas but still at the highest for the same period of the past decade.
According to Deputy Director of the International Labour Organisation in Vietnam Valentina Barcucci, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has affected employment and natural disasters worsened the situation.
However, she said, there are many reasons to be optimistic about jobs thanks to economic recovery.
Head of the GSO’s population and labour statistics department Vu Thi Thu Thuy said nearly 1.2 million people faced unemployment in 2020, up 277,800 as compared to 2019.
The average monthly income in 2020 reached 5.5 million VND (239.1 USD), 128,000 VND lower than last year.
The average income of workers in urban areas was 1.5 times higher than that in rural areas (7 million VND and 4.7 million VND, respectively).
Wage rate for men is 1.4 times higher than for female employees (6.4 million VND and 4.5 million VND, respectively)./.
VNA
