As the Covid-19 pandemic is gradually contained, demand for labor from enterprises in Hanoi are predicted to surge in the coming months, according to Ta Van Thao, director of Hanoi Center of Employee Service (HCES).

People filing claims for unemployement benefits at HCES. Photo: Thuy Truc.

In the first four months of 2020, the number of claims for unemployment benefits jumped 22.23% against the first quarter of 2019 to 18,165, Thao said. However, since the ease of the social distancing order, there has been a growing number of job seekers.

Similarly, a resumption of business activities has benefited the labor market, Thao said.

Between February and April, 1,945 enterprises applied for hiring 13,562 employees through HCES. Of the total, industrial businesses need 5,500 workers, there are one thousand vacancies for salesmen, 500 for cleaners and security guards, and 300 for accountants, among others.

According to Thao, fields with high demand for labor are manufacturing, trade and services.

As a direct result of intensifying economic activities, services sectors would boom and lead to even greater demands for hiring, Thao noted.

Data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed in the year to mid-April, nearly five million workers in Vietnam became unemployed or forced to take unpaid leave and 84.4% of enterprises were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The manufacturing and processing sector was hit the hardest with over 1.2 million workers harmed by the pandemic, followed by wholesale and retail with 1.1 million, hospitality and catering services with 740,000.

According to the GSO, workers in informal sectors, or those without labor contracts, on low wages, as well as young and old workers, are among the most vulnerable groups in the pandemic.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated over 38 million people in Vietnam worked in the informal sector in 2019.