How to ensure human resources amid rising asymptomatic COVID-19 cases (F0) and close contacts (F1)?

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The demand for labor is expected to focus on the fields of textile, garment, leather and footwear, electronics, tourism, groups of qualified workers, and seasonal workers. Illustration: T.D.

Strong increase in demand

As shown by recent reports from localities with a large number of workers in industrial and export processing zones, the number of workers having to quit because of F0 and F1 status (in treatment and isolation due to Covid-19) is high, such as in Hai Phong (over 42,000 employees), Bac Giang (22,000 employees), which has affected the organization of production and business.

According to a representative of a large textile and garment export enterprise, instead of the off-season time for the garment industry as usual before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of new orders after the Lunar New Year is soaring. Thanks to the prosperity of the market in comparison with previous years, many businesses have gained orders until the end of the second quarter of 2022. Some items have orders until the end of the third quarter of 2022. Therefore, the demand for labor of enterprises is very high.

Notably, although nearly 100% of employees have returned to work after the Tet holiday, as a high number of employees are F0, the labor force is inadequate due to the need to take time off for isolation and medical treatment.

As a result, the inventories are large due to lack of labor. However, the positive point is that 98% of workers have been vaccinated, so most workers with Covid-19 have no symptoms or mild symptoms; the recovery time is about 5-7 days which enables them to quickly return to work.

Compared to 2021, thanks to the implementation of Decree 128, businesses no longer have to close the factory in case of F0 and F1 infections; instead, businesses can actively set up alternative working days for employees. In case of too many F0 workers, the factory can be closed for about 10 days, then reorganize. This also helps businesses be proactive in planning production orders, flexibly rotating workers when the number of Covid-19 cases is high.

Deploying policies to accompany businesses

To solve the labor shortage caused by the increase in F0 and F1 cases, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Confederation of Labor Tran Doan Trung said that potential risks of the labor market need to be monitored and assessed carefully in order to set up a thorough handling plan, ensuring a solid basis to quickly promote business and production as soon as the pandemic is under control.

Along with that, there should be policies to encourage employees to participate in training, retraining, improving skills or changing careers. At the same time, it is necessary to remove barriers and create maximum openness within the current legal framework so that enterprises can organize re-training for employees.

Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu also emphasized that the current labor shortage is common in many localities, industries, and levels which needs many solutions.

In particular, in the spirit of accompanying businesses, accompanying the Government to restore the economy and take care of jobs and life for workers, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor will continue to have a mechanism to support and take care of the material and spiritual life of union members and employees amid the Covid-19 pandemic; promptly promote trade union institutions in industrial parks, such as houses, kindergartens, and community activities for workers.

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In particular, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor will coordinate with relevant agencies to deploy and supervise the implementation of policies to support employees, such as supporting three months of rent for employees in industrial parks, export processing zones, key economic areas; in which the support level for employees returning to the labor market is VND1 million/month and employees working in enterprises is VND500,000/month.