For more than half a year, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tu, a worker at a garment company in Thanh Tri district (Hanoi) has received more goods to bring home to work.
According to Ms. Tu, when her second daughter entered grade 6, she spent more time studying with her child every night. Therefore, after her working hours at the company, she took the products home to work.
"My basic salary is 5.5 million VND, if I work hard enough and am highly productive, I will earn about 10 million VND/month. Since receiving more goods to bring home to work, my monthly income has increased by 2-2.5 million VND. This amount is enough to pay for electricity and water bills and tuition for my two daughters in high school near their home, said Ms. Tu.
Also working at a mechanical company in Yen Nghia ward (Ha Dong, Hanoi), Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan has a fixed salary of 13 million VND/month. Currently, Mr. Toan rents a house near the company, living with 2 colleagues; his wife and children live in their hometown (Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh).
Each month, Mr. Toan spends and makes living expenses in the range of 6 million VND, including 1.3 million VND for renting a house and electricity and water. He fixed 2 million VND to save for work, sickness; 5 million VND he sent back to his hometown so his wife could take care of his 2 children's education and take care of her parents-in-law. "Fortunately, in my hometown, my family has fields and gardens, so we have less food and rice, my wife spends a lot of money from the money I send, sometimes selling more chickens and dozens of eggs...", Mr. Toan said.
Because his eldest daughter is about to enter high school, Mr. Toan plans to spend more money on her children's education before the university entrance exam, so for more than a year now, he has registered to work as an after-hours delivery staff and on Saturdays and Sundays.
Before he was used to the job and the roads in Hanoi, Mr. Toan felt discouraged and had intended to give up. But after about a month, he mastered the job and balanced his time, so he took the initiative to work. Currently, in addition to his main salary at a mechanical company, Mr. Toan has a passive income of several million VND per month.
However, Mr. Toan also realized that the extra work could not last long, so he is discussing with friends to save capital, with available skills, to open a mechanical workshop for household appliances at the rented room. "Fortunately, we rented a level 4 house in a fairly crowded residential area. I surveyed and found that the demand for household mechanics is quite high, I make affordable, durable, and I will definitely have a place. I plan to work for hire until the end of this year, then borrow it to open a workshop, and take the initiative in my work, Mr. Toan shared.
According to the Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), by the end of the first quarter of 2025, the labor force nationwide was about 52.9 million people, including those aged 15 to working age. Of which, 51.9 million people are employed and about 1 million people are unemployed.
The average income of employees in the first quarter of 2025, including wages, salaries, overtime pay, bonuses, allowances and other benefits, reached about 8.3 million VND/month - an increase of 131,000 VND/month compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 720,000 VND/month compared to the same period last year.
Although the income of workers across the country has continuously improved in recent years, in reality, not all workers have achieved an income level higher than the national average.
