Garment workers no longer have to receive Tet bonuses in 'shorts and tank tops'

Representatives of some businesses said that the average bonus for employees during Tet this year is 2 months' salary, even difficult units try to offer 1 month's salary.

Having just received a notice of receiving her Tet bonus, Ms. Ngoc Hanh - a worker at a garment company in Thanh Tri (Hanoi) said that this year her bonus was "finalized" at 2.5 months' salary, equivalent to 9-10 million VND.Although not as high as other manufacturing industries, for Ms. Hanh and her colleagues, this is a relatively positive number.

“Many friends working in other garment companies also said that this year is difficult, bonuses are lower, but our company is lucky to keep the same bonus level as every year,” said Ms. Hanh, revealing that she will spend a part of the bonus on Tet shopping for her family, and put the remaining small amount in the piggy bank.

After 5 years working at the company, this Tet is the time when Ms. Thanh Loan feels happier than ever when she escapes the situation of receiving bonuses in kind. Last year, Ms. Loan was still sad when she received 2 million VND and 3 sets of clothes that were the company's inventory."This year the company's business is better, orders are more regular so each employee gets a bonus of 1.5 months' salary," Ms. Loan shared.

"There is no longer the story of textile and garment enterprises giving Tet bonuses in the form of tank tops and shorts like in previous years."Mr. Vu Duc Giang - Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association affirmed that although it was a difficult year, for the first time in the past 10 years, the textile and garment industry achieved a growth rate of 5.7%.

"Despite difficulties, businesses still maintain growth rate, increase labor productivity and ensure orders," Mr. Giang stated the reality. ThereforeAverage income of textile workers in 2016 increased by over 10% compared to 2015.

2017 remains a challenging year for the Vietnamese textile and garment industry. Photo: Anh Quan

Mr. Truong Dinh Van - Deputy Director of Chau Giang Textile Company (Ha Nam) said that despite many difficulties, it still achieved growth, so the Tet bonus for workers is still at the level of 2-3 months' salary. In addition to the bonus, the company also gives gift baskets including banh chung and gio lua to make each worker's "luggage" to go home for Tet more complete.

Commenting that Tet bonuses are not only meant to encourage workers after a year of hard work, but also to nurture the future, to stabilize the labor force after Tet, Mr. Le Tien Truong - General Director of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) shared that on average, units under the group give bonuses of 2 months' salary to workers. With this bonus, workers in the Southern region receive about 16-20 million VND in Tet bonuses, while in the North it is lower, 12-14 million VND per person.

Mr. Truong also informed that in 2017, most businesses in the industry had enough orders until the end of the first quarter, but they will have to face competition for export orders with countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, China... According to Mr. Vu Duc Giang, in addition to solving the short-term requirement of orders, textile and garment businesses still have to have a long-term vision of investing in the fiber, weaving, dyeing industry... to meet 55% to 60% of the industry's demand by 2018 and 2019.

Besides, textile enterprises still pay little attention to the domestic market and strategies for this market. Although it is only worth 4.5 billion USD, Vinatex leaders believe that to be successful, textile enterprises also need strategies, and cannot follow the model of "everyone doing textiles" to cover the market.

In addition to the domestic market, export is still the industry's "trump card" in 2017. To regain export growth momentum, businesses need to be agile in adapting to the market; shifting from outsourcing to investing in end-to-end production (design, sample sewing, packaging, transportation...); as well as minimizing sales through intermediaries.

With the forecast still difficult, in 2017, the textile and garment industry does not strive for a growth target of 10-12% like every year, but only expects to increase by 6.5-7% in 2017, equivalent to over 30 billion USD.

According to VNE