Covid-19 affects millions of jobs in Vietnam

The livelihoods of about five million people have been affected in the first four months of this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

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During a press conference on April 24 about employees and jobs in the first quarter of 2020, the General Statistics Office of Vietnam said that the number of employed people in the first quarter was at the lowest for the past decade. As of mid-April, five million people had been affected, 1.2 million of them were in the manufacturing and processing industries, 1.1 million were in the retail sector and 740,000 were in services and hospitality sector. 59% were laid off temporarily, 28% taking rotating breaks and 13% had lost their jobs.

The unemployment rate of people over 15 years old was also in the highest for the past five years at 2.22%, an increase of 0.07% compared to the previous quarter and 0.05% compared to the same period last year.

85% of firms in Vietnam said they had experienced difficulties due to the outbreak. 90% of them are medium and large-size companies.

Vu Thi Thu Thuy, head of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics, said uncontracted employees, low-income people, young and elderly employees are in the vulnerable group. The economy would continue feeling the impact of the outbreak in the near future.

In the report titled Covid-19 and the Labour Market in Vietnam, the International Labour Organisation said the impact will be clearer in the second quarter. By the end of the second quarter, the outbreak could impact the livelihoods of 4.6-10.3 million people as their working hours and wages would be cut or they would lose their jobs. Two scenarios were envisioned. One is the lower-impact scenario in which containment measures were eased during the second quarter and one higher-impact scenario in which the measures remained largely in place.

In the first scenario, 1.8 million people in manufacturing, 0.9 million in commercial and retail and 0.9 million in food and beverages and hospitality sectors would be affected. In the second quarter, it would be 3.8 million in manufacturing, 2.6 million in commercial and retail, and 1.4 million in food and beverages and hospitality sectors.

Another 18.9 million people in agriculture, forestry and fishery sector would face many challenges.

Workers in the informal economy would be severely affected as they don't have state protection or savings. 81% are in the food and beverages and hospitality sectors.