Hope voters sympathize with the shortcomings in implementing support policies affected by the Covid-19 epidemic

On the afternoon of December 8, the 4th session of the 18th Provincial People's Council, term 2021-2026 continued the program with the question and answer session.

Comrades: Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council chaired the questioning session.

Overview of the questioning session of the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

STRENGTHENING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LABOR SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of the province was authorized by the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee to answer questions on the content: Implementation of policies to support employees and employers facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic and job creation for employees in the province due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs answered questions. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Answering the question of delegate Ho Van Dam (Quynh Luu district) about what solutions the industry has had to support businesses in the province to have enough human resources for production and business, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that the problem of connecting labor supply and demand is currently very difficult. Up to this point, there are 260 businesses needing to recruit about 29,000 workers, while the province adds about 47,000 workers to the market each year, but many businesses still cannot find workers.

“The main reason is that supply and demand have not met. Because businesses need to recruit skilled workers with such salaries, but on the contrary, workers are looking for jobs that match their skills, qualifications and desires, especially income. This is a normal shift in the labor market,” Mr. Vu explained, adding that when businesses invest, they do not have a detailed plan for labor use regarding job positions and where the labor force is located. In addition, only 25% of workers have certificates out of 65% of trained workers, so businesses have difficulty recruiting.

Delegate Ho Van Dam (Quynh Luu district) asked questions to the leaders of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding solutions for the coming time, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that the Department has advised the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee to issue projects, plans and implement employment and vocational training so that workers can find jobs and businesses can find human resources. The Department has also coordinated with localities to review job needs at the commune level and send business needs to workers. Through job fairs, information is provided for workers to learn. At the same time, more than 50,000 workers will create jobs for themselves in their families, business households, craft villages, cooperatives, and forestry farms to stabilize their lives.

Raising the issue, on average, the province creates new jobs for about 38,000 workers each year. From the fact that more than 75% of workers returning home are unskilled, the effectiveness of job creation is not only in quantity but also in quality, delegate Luc Thi Lien (Con Cuong district) asked the leaders of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to clearly state their views on the issue of job quality and the correlation in the current job creation issue of the province, what solutions are there to improve the quality of jobs for workers. What solutions does the industry have to support female workers, those raising young children, especially in remote areas?

Delegate Luc Thi Lien (Con Cuong district) asked a question to the Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Affirming that in the coming time, the labor force will be recalculated to increase the number of workers working locally and reduce the number of workers working in other provinces, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that the province strives to provide an average of 42,000 workers each year, higher than the target of the Resolution of the 19th Provincial Party Congress; increase the rate of workers working in the province to 66.2%; reduce the rate of workers working outside the province to 6.4%; reduce the rate of exported workers to 27.4%.

In addition, the Department is consulting on a vocational skills training project in the direction of increasing college and intermediate training, reducing primary and under 3-month vocational training; combining with increasing soft skills training for workers. Continue to strengthen the connection between 3 parties: the State, schools, and businesses in vocational training for workers so that when workers start working, they will basically have access to modern machinery.

LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE, HOPE VOTERS UNDERSTAND AND SHARE

Regarding the implementation of Decision 22 of the Provincial People's Committee on support for freelance workers, which many delegates are interested in, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that Decision No. 22 of the Provincial People's Committee was issued early, through 9 steps and carefully calculated, basically covering all 9 groups with 36 specific industries and occupations.

Delegate Phan Thi Minh Ly asked a question to the Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Affirming that the implementation of Decision No. 22 in practice is still inadequate and has not covered all subjects, the Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that Resolution 68 of the Government stipulates that the authority belongs to the province, and the province must balance 100% of the budget. In the difficult conditions of the province, the province has approved the number of freelance workers exceeding 170% of the original estimate. At the same time, the policy only supports the most affected subjects, while the number of freelance workers is very large, so it does not cover all subjects.

“If all industries are included, it will be almost completely covered, the number is very large, exceeding the province's budget balance capacity. There are some subjects, areas, and time of policy issuance that have not been suspended, and have not been deeply affected. The Department will learn from experience and when issuing future policies, it will be more thorough, so I hope delegates and voters will sympathize and share the above shortcomings,” said Mr. Vu.

Explaining the reason why some localities have been slow in implementing policies to support workers in response to the question of delegate Trinh Van Nha (Thanh Chuong district), Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that some policies are still inadequate and difficult to implement in practice, while there are no specific instructions. In addition, some officials, including leaders, do not understand the policies deeply, and some workers still choose to follow better policies.

Delegate Ho Thi Thuy Trang (Hoang Mai Town) asked a question to the Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Delegate Ho Thi Thuy Trang (Hoang Mai Town) also requested the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to clarify why the implementation of the policy to support employees according to Resolution 116 of the Government at public service units to ensure a part of regular expenditure has not been implemented, and how to handle it in the coming time?

Answering the question of delegate Ho Thi Thuy Trang, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that the implementation of Resolution 116 of the Government is quite difficult because the policy is still inadequate. With the responsibility of the industry, the Department coordinates with the Department of Finance, the provincial Social Insurance to report to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the central Social Insurance to remove obstacles, but currently there is no document guiding the removal.

Concluding the questioning session, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that 7 delegates raised questions during the questioning session. The questions and explanations were clear, specific, and on point, going straight to the issues voters were concerned about.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, on behalf of the meeting chair, concluded the question and answer session of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Acknowledging the results that the province and all levels and sectors have implemented, on behalf of the meeting chairman, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Khoi also frankly assessed that in implementing policies for employees and employers, many localities have been slow. On the business side, the conditions for enjoying the policy are too high, the administrative procedures are too cumbersome. The lack of coverage of all affected groups has caused frustration among some unemployed people. In addition, the quality of vocational training is not linked to the needs of businesses using labor, not linked to the labor market.

The meeting chairman suggested that the Provincial People's Committee and relevant sectors should evaluate and learn from the experience of implementing policies in the past, propose specific solutions, and advise on additional groups of affected subjects in practice to resolve policies in accordance with the principles: timely support, to the right subjects, publicly, transparently, and without errors. The Department of Finance and localities should prioritize balancing sufficient resources to promptly pay approved support subjects. The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs should focus on advising and implementing Resolution 126 of the Government and Decision 33 of the Prime Minister in a synchronous and effective manner.

The Provincial People's Committee, sectors and localities need to continue to direct and effectively implement the project to create jobs for workers in the province in the period of 2021-2025. Special attention should be paid to improving the quality of vocational training for workers, this is not only the responsibility of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Improve and pay more attention to the quality of vocational training facilities, especially in mountainous and rural areas. Continue to research and guide businesses to train workers according to requirements. Pay more attention to implementing well the work of caring for policies and social security in the area./.