More than a month before the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit 2023, the press and social media published a lot of information related to Tet bonuses from businesses. The good news is that one of the largest companies in Vietnam (130,000 workers) in Ho Chi Minh City is giving Tet bonuses to its workers that are 30% higher than last year and equal to the level before the Covid-19 pandemic. Another company in Dong Nai with about 24,000 employees announced the highest bonus of 2.2 months' salary per person for workers with 12 years or more of service, and 1-2.1 months' salary per person for workers with 1 year to less than 12 years of service. They also organized transportation for workers to return home for Tet, or provided financial assistance for workers to buy tickets to go home for Tet. In addition, many businesses and organizations are preparing to announce Tet bonuses for their employees with the spirit of "whether big or small, at least there's a bonus"...
However, some businesses and organizations will not give Tet bonuses to their employees because they haven't secured any orders. In fact, dozens of businesses in Binh Duong and some southern provinces haven't even mentioned Tet bonuses and are giving their workers two months off for Tet. Two months off for Tet means no salary, no bonus, leaving many workers stranded. Going home early for Tet or staying to find extra work to earn money for the holiday becomes a difficult dilemma. If they can't find work in the city during the Tet season, it's even harder, and going home early doesn't offer any other job opportunities!
Meanwhile, a year-end survey by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor revealed that nearly 59% of workers have no savings, and their income has decreased to 5.9 million VND instead of 6.7 million VND/month as reported in the third quarter. The survey of thousands of workers across all three regions also showed that if they lose their jobs, 11.7% of workers have savings sufficient to last less than a month; 16.7% can sustain it for 1-3 months, and 12.7% for more than 3 months. In related developments, tens of thousands of workers in southern provinces have lined up to withdraw their social insurance benefits in a lump sum to have money for expenses in the coming days.
The above information pertains to the business sector. However, state-owned enterprises and the education sector in many areas are also facing difficulties in providing Tet bonuses to their employees. For example, many schools in mountainous regions lack other resources to provide Tet bonuses to their teachers; this has happened many years ago!
Article by: Nguyen Nguyen
Illustrative image: Archival material
