Finding new opportunities at the beginning of the year
Right after the Lunar New Year holiday, in the first week of returning to work, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh - an accountant at Tien Minh Production Co., Ltd. (Phuong Liet ward industrial cluster, Hanoi) applied for resignation.
According to Ms. Van Anh, she decided to quit her job to find new job opportunities, after holding a bachelor's degree in accounting.
“I have been attached to the company for 5 years, right after graduating from college. Over the past time, I have been studying and working, perfecting skills and degrees, certificates. I want to find new opportunities with better income, clearer career advancement opportunities,” Ms. Van Anh said.
Also according to Ms. Van Anh, while waiting to find a new job, she and her best friend decided to sell online goods, products are seafood imported from her hometown (Sam Son ward, Thanh Hoa). Previously, Ms. Van Anh took the opportunity to sell these items and earned a stable income for more than half a year.
Also deciding to leave the factory after the Tet holiday is Mr. Nguyen Duc Bon, from Muong Dong commune (Phu Tho). Mr. Bon has been a worker in Thien Loc commune (Hanoi) for 3 years now. With the position of a casting workshop worker of a mechanical company, Mr. Bon has a fixed salary of 6,500,000 VND/month, plus allowances and benefits, total income of nearly 10 million VND/month.
According to Mr. Bon, he has to be fundamental and calculate this income to be enough for rent, food, living expenses and only save about 1 million VND per month in case of illness or unexpected events.
Mr. Bon shared that immediately after quitting his job, he went to the inner city to rent a house with a compatriot in Thanh Xuan ward and worked as a technology motorbike taxi driver. "My friend has been driving for 2 years now, the time is less constrained than working at a factory, the income is about 16 million VND/month," Mr. Bon said.
According to the Hanoi Employment Service Center, right after the Lunar New Year holiday, many businesses hung signs recruiting continuously or through intermediaries to recruit workers. Notably, the group of workers recruited additionally is mainly young workers, aged 20–30.
Representatives of the Hanoi Employment Service Center said that behind the young workers' decision to leave the factory is not only the salary issue. Many young workers said they are looking for a balance between work and life, having opportunities to develop themselves. Meanwhile, the working environment is somewhat rigid, with few opportunities for promotion, and repetitive jobs make it difficult for them to stick around for a long time.
“Besides, the development of technology and social networks also strongly impacts career awareness. Young workers easily access images of rapid success, high income from freelance jobs, and individual startups. This creates new expectations, although sometimes not suitable for actual capacity and conditions,” said Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of Hanoi Employment Service Center.
Need policies for flexible work
Mr. Tran Duc Anh - Director of Khang Sinh Group Joint Stock Company (Dong Da ward, Hanoi) said that the foundational economy and freelance jobs are opening up many opportunities for young workers. With just a smartphone, workers can participate in many different types of jobs, from delivery, online sales to content creation... Income in peak periods can even exceed workers' salaries.
However, freelance jobs are unstable, and income depends on the market and platform algorithms. Employees do not have labor contracts, and their rights to social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance are not guaranteed. When they are sick, injured, or the market is "frozen", they are prone to falling into a passive position," Mr. Duc Anh warned.
Also according to Mr. Duc Anh, the trend of young workers leaving the production sector to participate in freelance jobs poses many challenges for social security in the long term. Without appropriate policies, a part of young workers is at risk of standing outside the social safety net.
Mr. Vu Quang Thanh said that young workers leaving factories and businesses need to review their personnel policies.
Many businesses start from improving meal times, increasing allowances, adjusting working hours... However, these solutions are not attractive enough if they do not go hand in hand with improving the working environment and career development roadmap. In the context of a competitive labor market, businesses need to change their thinking from "recruiting enough people" to "keeping people", especially young workers. This requires long-term investment in training, improving skills and creating motivation to work," Mr. Thanh said.
