Another story about the lack of maids!

(Baonghean) - When agencies and offices officially enter the first working day, it is also the time when many families have a headache arranging housework and office work. The reason is because the domestic workers of these families have not yet "opened the spring". At this time, domestic workers have hundreds of reasons to leave their old employers to find new jobs, find new employers... Lack of domestic workers becomes a concern that is not easy to solve!

Following the address on the flyer, I went to the address of the maid agency called “Long-term connection” directed by Mr. Ho Van Chien. It was only 8am but the place was already crowded with people waiting. They were chatting and talking about the hardship of going to work after Tet but the maid had not come. For the past few days, my parents-in-law had asked everyone in the neighborhood and village but still could not find one, so now they came to ask the center to help them find one. “Well, it costs a little money but there is still someone, otherwise I would have had to quit my job to stay home and take care of the children. For the past 2 days, I have been sitting here waiting to find a maid suitable for my family but still have not found one. During the year, I hired a very good maid, but after Tet she announced that there was something going on at home so she could not come back.”

Many families have husbands cook when their wives are away from home.

The company “Long-term connection” has been open for 4 years now, its main service is to broker domestic helpers for families in need in Vinh City or Hanoi. According to Mr. Chien, after Tet, domestic helpers are extremely rare. While most middle-aged domestic helpers only come after the full moon, young domestic helpers are “standing on this mountain looking at that mountain”, after Tet they want to change jobs to demand higher salaries or go to the South to work for foreign companies to “show off”. Mr. Chien said: “Our company now has more than 100 families registered but has only been able to help 30 families. I have sent flyers everywhere with salaries 200,000 - 500,000 VND higher than last year, sent people to villages in all districts such as Tan Ky, Do Luong, Thanh Chuong to find people suitable for the job of domestic helper. If they agree, I ask for an appointment and someone picks them up at the bus station, but it still doesn’t work”.

At this center, domestic workers will have a place to stay if they are not hired and will not have to pay a fee if a family needs to hire them. However, workers must sign the terms of the contract and must pay penalties such as if they terminate the contract without reason, they will not receive their salary for 15 days of the previous month. On the contrary, if the homeowner assigns more work than the agreed amount in the contract, the domestic worker has the right to terminate the contract and still receive full wages. Domestic worker services are very diverse, including student domestic workers who work by the hour, 30,000 VND per hour, 60,000 VND per session, the more sessions, the cheaper the price. However, if you hire a domestic worker during Tet, you will have to pay 150,000-200,000 VND per day. This year, the monthly salary for domestic workers has also increased compared to last year. If you hire a babysitter and help with housework, the salary is from 2,500,000 VND/month; Caring for the sick, the elderly and also doing housework costs 3,000,000 - 3,500,000 VND. The fee for each time finding a housekeeper at the center is also not cheap at 1,000,000 VND/person and there is a contract with accompanying terms.

Through a friend's introduction, I met Ms. Huong in Nghi Kieu, who specializes in brokering domestic helpers for 700,000 VND. Through discussion, Ms. Huong said: I specialize in providing domestic helpers for brokerage centers in Vinh City, all good people who can do the job. If you need to hire someone between 45-55 years old, I will only ask for 800,000 VND, because this type of person is very rare. Ms. Huong promised that by the full moon day, someone would be available, so I had hope for a new, dedicated, and skilled domestic helper... However, discussing this matter with a friend who was also in the same situation as me, who was in a "tight" situation with a domestic helper, he said: Hiring a domestic helper through a "phone broker" can sometimes get you a satisfactory person, but sometimes you lose money because the domestic helper cannot do the job as expected, or has "blindsided" for a large sum of money and then run away, and the fee has already been paid to the "broker" from the moment the person is delivered. If the homeowner calls the broker, they will only receive sentences like: "When there is someone, I will change it for you" or: "That girl from the upper neighborhood has gone to the South, I don't know her phone number either, these days, it's hard to find a maid in high demand, if I have a chance to go to Vinh, I will send you the fee", but she still hasn't come to Vinh "so I can only run to heaven to ask for it" - my friend said.

According to people who have been hiring domestic helpers for decades, today's domestic helpers are very demanding. If you don't pamper them and help them with housework, they will find a way to leave and go work for someone else. There are many people who are very affectionate and dedicated to their work. They love children like their own children. When you hand over the house to them to work hard for a living, you don't have to worry about anything. But there are also domestic helpers who only work perfunctorily. If you don't help them, the work will be ruined. You can't teach them much but they don't improve. They get angry before you even talk to them. Domestic helpers around 15-17 years old are quick and understanding, but they start to compete early, they are on the phone all day, and then fall in love, and you don't know where to go. However, without them, you really can't manage, so if a family is lucky enough to find a good-natured and diligent domestic helper, otherwise they have to "swallow the bitter pill" because finding a domestic helper is really not easy, especially during this time after Tet.

Nowadays, domestic workers are likened to nannies and housekeepers. Without them for a day, family life is turned upside down, no one takes care of the children, no one helps with housework. To have a satisfactory domestic worker, in addition to being dedicated to their work and clearly realizing that domestic work is a profession and not a "servant" as the old prejudice, the homeowner must also pay attention to training and treating domestic workers in a way that is both skillful and strict so that they do what they want without feeling hurt. Currently, the domestic worker profession has been clearly and specifically regulated in the Labor Code, so in reality, there are increasingly high requirements for vocational training, training quality, employment policies, management, selection and use of domestic workers. In particular, it is necessary to enhance the responsibility of employers of domestic workers and take better care of domestic workers according to the provisions of the law.

Article and photos:Thanh Nga