The serious nature of the fourth Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam has again dealt a huge blow to the labor market as nearly 1.2 million people were suspended from working in the second quarter, an increase of over 87,000 against the previous quarter.

Workers at Garment 10 Company. Photo: Thanh Hai

Head of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics under the General Statistics Office (GSO) Pham Hoai Nam revealed the information at a press conference held on July 6.

“The outlook for the labor market remains grim as the number of employed people continues to decline in the second quarter, while more people remain idle or work in the informal sector,” Nam said.

“People at the working group age of 15-24 that lost their jobs in the April-June period stood at 389,800, accounting for 31.8% of the total,” he added.

According to Nam, the number of people of the working-age from 15 and above in the second quarter was 51.1 million, up 44,700 against the previous quarter and 1.7 million year-on-year.

In this context, the number of employed workers was 49.9 million, down 65,000 against the first quarter and up 1.8 million year-on-year.

Meanwhile, people remaining idle were 1.1 million, representing an increase of 173,500 year-on-year.

“The rate of idle workers in the urban areas was 2.8%, higher than in rural area at 2.49%,” Nam said, saying this is different compared to the past when jobs were hard to find in rural areas than in other parts of the country.

Due to the pandemic, Nam said the income of workers in almost all economic sectors has diminished compared to the previous quarter, referring to the average number of VND6.1 million (US$265) per month, down VND226,000 (US$10) from the first quarter.

Among sectors, those working in the industry and construction sectors took the biggest hit with a decline of VND464,000 ($20) to VND6.7 million ($290) per month, followed by workers in the services sector with VND7.2 million ($312.4), down VND291,000 ($13).

To address issues facing the labor market, the GSO’s representative called for government agencies to speed up vaccination programs, with priority given to workers in industrial parks to avoid disruption to the value chains.

“It is imperative for the authorities to ensure efficient implementation of government’s social relief package, including financial support for people under unpaid leave, contract termination or to retrain workers,” Nam said.