Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Some 70,000-80,000 workers across the country havereturned to work since the mass disruption caused by the novel coronavirus in Vietnam,said Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Le Van Thanhat an online conference held on June 3 to discuss and share experience in jobcreation and sustainable business in the new normal [after COVID-19].

During the first four months of 2020, it was estimated over 5 million workersin Vietnam either lost their jobs, had their work hours reduced or sufferedincome loss, said Thanh. A MOLISA survey said 67 percent of all businesses hadto lay-off part of their workforce while up to 80 percent of businesses in theinformal sector had to suspend their operations for up to a month in compliancewith social isolation regulations.

The survey also showed one of the lowest labour participation rates everrecorded during the first quarter of 2020 with just over 75 percent.

The deputy minister said in the coming months more workers will likely returnto work but there are steps that must be taken to ensure a smooth and moreefficient process.

On MOLISA’s part, the ministry has been working to upgrade its existingjob-seeker website to a national job portal to connect workers and potentialemployers and vocational schools.

The Government has also reserved a budget up to 5 trillion VND (216 million USD)to retrain and reskill workers to help adapt the Vietnamese labour force to newchanges in the job market.

Sam Haggag, managing director of Asia Pacific for ManpowerGroup – one of theworld’s largest staffing firms – said governments, businesses and unionorganisations play important roles and must work together to prepare theworkforce for the new normal.

Haggag said an organised return of the workforce is key to economic recovery,citing significant resources and efforts invested by industries includingairlines, logistics and transport in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Simon Matthews, director-general of Vietnam, Thailand and the Middle-East, saidby 2020, 84 percent of businesses will require workers to upgrade theirskillsets, according to industry forecasts. This, in turn, will require freshapproaches to human resource development and hiring policies. 

Nguyen Thi Quyen, deputy head of MOLISA’s Department of Employment, said thecountry must prepare for different scenarios with the job market.

While the country will likely see more workers returning to work in the nearfuture, the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and hard to predict. In aworst-case scenario, up to 100,000 workers could lose their jobs within a monthwith up to 80 percent of businesses forced to lay-off 7.2 million staff./.