Unemployed labourers hesitate to take new jobs even amid long-term labour shortage

A production line at Pouyuen Việt Nam Ltd Company. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY Many unemployed labourers in HCM City and southern localities only want seasonal jobs, while businesses are looking for candidates who commit to work for a long time.

After quitting her job in May after massive lay-offs at Pouyuen Việt Nam Ltd Company in Bình Tân District, HCM City, Lê Thị Bích Trâm decided to file for unemployment insurance and claim lump-sum insurance but not to seek a new job.

She earns over VNĐ100,000 per day from processing and folding plastic bags at home, and is waiting for the insurance.

She said she applied for some jobs but did not find a suitable one. Some offered lower wages than the previous job. Others with good incomes required workers younger than 40 years old.

Many other labourers are also waiting for their unemployment insurance applications to be approved to claim the lump-sum insurance.

Trần Thị Hà, 39 years old, used to be a worker at PouYuen Vietnam Co., Ltd.

While participating in the job exchange in Bình Tân District, she told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) that she does not want to apply for a new job because she benefits from unemployment insurance.

She chose to stay at home and take insurance benefits rather than start a new job and pay insurance premiums because: “When working for any company, I have to pay the insurance premium one month after signing the contract,” she said.

At the end of November, the HCM City Employment Service Centre and 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region organised an online and offline regionally linked job exchange.

The units invited many workers benefitting from the unemployment insurance, businesses and human resource providers to attend and even arranged a computer space to connect workers and other employees online.

However, the number of unemployed people looking for jobs in person or making online applications remained low.

Many employers offered jobs to candidates, but the reply was that they only want to receive insurance benefits now and were not willing to find employment.

Trần Quốc Bảo, deputy director of Long An Provincial Employment Service Centre, said that when Pouyuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. in HCM City laid off 5,700 workers in May 2023, up to 35 per cent of workers were Vietnamese.

Immediately upon being updated with the list from the HCM City Employment Service Centre, Long An’s local authorities visited businesses that needed recruiting workers to introduce jobs to workers, but the success rate was still low.

“From what we understand, most laid-off workers are those who opted for the unemployment insurance. Very a few among them returned to the labour market,” he told VOV.

He said these workers have been eligible to pay unemployment insurance for over 144 months, so they want to receive all unemployment benefits.

Supply and demand connection

While unemployed workers do not want to take on new permanent jobs, businesses need workers.

Cholimex Food Joint Stock Company in Bình Chánh District, HCM City, is seeking hundreds of unskilled workers to meet production and business needs. However, it is not an easy task.

Lê Thị Kim Liên, from the human resources department of Cholimex, said there are many local industrial parks, so workers prefer working close to home to save on costs. Many are returning to their hometowns to work. Their professions, such as garments, leather footwear, and electronics, are also simpler.

According to a survey conducted by HCM City’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in May 2023 on 2,429 laid-off workers, more than half wanted to return to their hometowns, and nearly 33 per cent did not express the need for job introduction and vocational training.

About 4 per cent wanted to take vocational training and find jobs, while 12 per cent wanted employment.

Nguyễn Văn Hạnh Thục, director of the HCM City Employment Service Centre, said there are many reasons why people receiving unemployment benefits have not returned to work. This is a challenge for job connections in the city.

She said that in order to connect supply and demand, the centre has promoted job exchange sessions to targeted groups such as local departments of labour, invalids and social affairs, labourers benefiting from unemployment insurance and willing to find jobs, and graduates from vocational colleges.

Commenting on the draft amended employment law, many authorised agencies said the subjects eligible for unemployment benefits should be limited, especially those who do not lose jobs. VNS