People registering for unemployment benefits in Ho Chi Minh City is on the rise, not only among blue-collar workers, but those who worked in high-level positions.
Former managers on the dole
Nguyen Cao Thang, head of the municipal Office of Unemployment Benefits, said the number of former managers looking for unemployment benefits has been on the rise for some time.
“Last year, white-collar workers accounted for 7% of the total number of unemployment benefactors in the city. Spending for unemployment insurance came to over VND124 billion (USD5.93 million) for the year,” Thang noted.
According to Thang, most of of these jobs were dissolved because of companies going under or going bankrupt.
He added that there is also a decrease in the number of people formerly in the managing class who have qualms about applying for such benefits.
Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of HCM City Human Resource Forecasting Centre, said that this trend is likely to continue into 2012. The result, he said, would be more formerly high-profile people collecting State benefits.
‘High-profile’ unemployment
Among those seeking unemployment benefits at the HCM City Job Placement Centre on February 13, was a man who had worked as chief clerk at a foreign-invested software firm in HCM City’s District No. 1. His salary had been thousands of USD per month.
This man said, “Even though I’ve just found a new job, I still decided to apply for unemployment benefits for the time when I was out of work. The payment would be considerable, around VND10 million (USD478.7) per month.”
At another unemployment insurance office in Binh Thanh District, many people aged between 40 and 50 were applying for such benefits.
According to Thang, the municipal Office of Unemployment Benefits started receiving an increasing number of applications from this group of labour force last year.
Among those who applied for such benefits in early 2012, many had very high salaries in the past, ranging from VND18 million to VND40 million (USD861.65-USD1,914) per month. Hundreds of people received unemployment insurance payments from VND4 million and VND10 million (USD191.47-USD478.7) per month, he added.
An anonymous social insurance expert said that under current regulations, employers are encouraged to pay unemployment insurance based on 20 months of a minimum wage of VND830,000, instead of actual incomes.
This means that a person earning a salary of VND40 million per month is allowed to pay an insurance rate based on a salary of VND16.6 million (USD794.6). This person would be eligible to receive a monthly payment of VND9.96 million (USD476.7) from the unemployment insurance fund.
From the beginning of 2012, social insurance payments has accounted for 24% of labourers’ total monthly minimum salary, up 2% from the previous year. Under the new rules, employers will have to pay 17%, with 7% being paid by the workers. Out of the total insurance fund, 3% will go to unemployment insurance. |
