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To maintain jobs for workers in this context requires businesses to make great efforts. Artwork: Bui Nu

Overlapping difficulties

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in the first six months of 2020, the total number of enterprises temporarily suspending their business is 29,000, an increase of 38.2% over the same period in 2019.

In the second quarter of 2020, unemployed people of working age (aged 15 and over) totaled about 1.3 million, an increase of 192,800 people compared to first quarter and an increase of 221,000 people over the same period last year. This is the highest unemployment rate in this area in the past 10 years.

Notably, out of 51.8 million employed workers in the second quarter of this year, 30.8 million people were affected by the pandemic, of which 2.4 million workers lost their jobs.

According to the survey results of VietnamWorks during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the social distancing measures, when asked about the business situation, nearly 60% of enterprises showed certain capacity to maintain and continue business development. Specifically, 44% of businesses said they are still operating normally and are able to maintain the workforce as well as salary and benefits for employees; 16% of businesses say they are growing and increasing their staff size.

In addition, the vulnerable group due to Covid-19 accounts for 40%, of which 30% of enterprises had to cut human resources to maintain operations, 10% of businesses chose to cut staff, salary and benefits.

Many businesses were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first wave, a stronger outbreak of the disease made them almost exhausted. There are businesses that still exist, so they have to "struggle" to wait for the pandemic to pass.

Talking Customs Newspaper, Mrs. Can Thuy Ha, Director of Nam Duong Investment and Construction Co., Ltd., said that in the face of the risks of Covid-19 for the second time, with previous experience, the company is always proactive, calmly handling all arising issues. First of all, all anti-epidemic measures for employees of the company comply with the health sector's regulations, such as: washing hands regularly from the entrance to the reception, wearing masks, measuring the temperature of all employees in the company as well as in the workshop, the construction site twice a day.

“Communication and business activities are shifted from direct invoicing to online sales to ensure the safety of customers. The above safety policies are applied to all departments from administration, human resources to sales department in the company,”Ms. Ha said.

Flexibility

Facing difficulties caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses consider and calculate solutions to overcome the problem. While some businesses choose to cut labor to reduce costs and determine the risk of labor shortage when they return, many businesses are still trying to retain employees.

Thang Nho Production and Trading Co., Ltd has wondered a lot when it is imperative to cut working hours and shifts to work in moderation to wait for the pandemic to pass.

Representatives of Thang Nho Trading and Production Co., Ltd. said that the company had calculated the raw materials to return to production were delayed from March and April.

However, before the development of the disease, the company's raw materials for production have been exhausted because sources are imported. The plan to import goods and raw materials to serve production is almost paralyzed while the products made are in stock, greatly affecting the company's production plan. Currently up to 80% of production workers of the company have been cut from working 1-2 shifts / day, now only three shifts / week.

The leaders of Thang Nho Company spoke about the salary, we also negotiate with the employees that only the basic salary can be paid, the production salary will be adjusted according to the production hours of each employee. The entire administrative, accounting and human resources departments (those that are not directly involved in production) also have a reduction of 45-50% in salary.

Ha Tinh Customs Department: Accompanying businesses to overcome difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic

“Since its inception, the company's revenue has never been so deeply reduced. We are currently facing many difficulties in paying salaries for workers, maintaining machinery as well as balancing our debts. However, thanks to the public and transparent notification to the employees, most employees agree with the current income, all for the company to survive. We also guarantee that we will not cut employees, but only cut wages. This is necessary to stabilize the employees' psychology, help them feel secure in production and stick with the company. In addition, we will try to approach the Government's policies on labor and employment and enterprise support policies to overcome these difficulties,” Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Director of Thuong Co., Ltd. Trading and Production Thang Nho said.