Half of jobseekers expect $400 per month salary

Some12.5% of jobseekers desired the middle-income range of VND15-21 million a month, and the highest salaries of more than VND21 million a month is being sought by only 9.2% of jobseekers, according to a second quarter survey by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Director of the Center for Strategic Forecasting and Analysis Information Pham Ngoc Toan said that the number of jobseekers in the second quarter was higher than the first quarter due to economic difficulties.

Workers did not have the advantage in negotiating higher salaries as they faced many competitors, he added.

Most jobseekers were looking for work in the sectors of real estate brokerage, garment, food and beverage, logistics and insurance.

Businesses were looking for accountants, administrators, IT engineers and marketing agents.

The sectors with the highest recruitment demands were IT and accounting, with 17.5% of total demand, followed by finance, banking and insurance at over 13%.

Demand for high-skilled workers accounted for more than 27% of total demand. Half of recruitments were seeking university graduates.

In the first five months this year, many sectors had to lay off workers due to plunging orders.

Around 70,000 garment sector workers nationwide lost their jobs and nearly 67,000 saw their working hours reduced in the first five months.

Thousands of real estate brokers have also lost their jobs as the property market has remained frozen and sales continue to dwindle.

Toan forecasted that the lack of orders will continue to burden businesses through 2023, and the sectors of garments, construction, agriculture and retail are set to continue facing difficulties.

“Challenges will linger at least until the end of the year,” he said. “Only when exports recover will the labor market sees positive signs.”

Over 562,600 workers sought unemployment pay in the first six months. The number of second quarter unemployment payment seekers was 1.7 times higher than the first.