Tired of having no future
Du, 24 years old, has "jumped" 5 jobs in 7 years in Hanoi.
After finishing grade 12, Du went to Hanoi with the goal of learning Japanese to go to Japan to work as a work-study student. After finishing the course at a training center in Soc Son district (Hanoi), Du failed to pass the minimum certification exam and gave up his dream of going to Japan.
Thanks to his early driver's license, Du became a driver for a taxi company. After nearly 2 years, tired of the job, Du quit.
Du's third job was to work as a waiter at a Japanese restaurant because of the little Japanese language knowledge he had learned before. "The basic salary is 7 million VND/month and includes food and accommodation. In addition, every month the restaurant manager gives me a tip (customers give money, the whole group puts it in a common fund and then shares it at the end of the month) of about 1.5 million VND. Even though I don't have to rent a house or worry about food, single young people can invite friends out for a meal that costs up to a million VND, and I still can't save a single penny," Du said.
Bored with his restaurant job, Du applied for a job as a technology driver. However, after only 3 months of working, this young man quit. Currently, Du works as an import-export manager at a wholesale fruit warehouse, specializing in supplying goods to fruit stores in Hanoi.
“My fixed salary is 9 million VND/month, lunch is provided, and I don’t have social insurance, so my parents are worried that if I get sick it will be very expensive. I plan to quit after receiving my Tet bonus and find another job,” Du said.
Young unskilled workers, who have lost their career direction after many years in Hanoi like Du, are not uncommon. Job-hopping among this group of informal workers also happens very often, even for very simple reasons. More importantly, because there are no constraints, job-hopping is easier for them.
Ms. Hoang Thi Nhan, a former cashier at a supermarket in Quang Trung Ward, Dong Da District (Hanoi) said that she decided to quit her job after the last working day of November 2024. “My salary was 6.5 million VND, no social insurance, no benefits... Everyone advised me to stay and receive my Tet bonus before quitting, but last year I received a Tet bonus of 1 million VND and a gift package worth about 300,000 VND. I think that is not enough to keep me here...”, Ms. Nhan said.
Through reading information on social networks, Ms. Nhan applied and was accepted as a receptionist and student guide at an English center in Van Quan ward (Ha Dong, Hanoi).
Considerations when "jumping" jobs
Speaking to the reporter of Lao Dong Newspaper on December 3, Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Director in charge of the Department of Employment (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) said that changing jobs to find a job that is more suitable to the ability, capacity and conditions of oneself and one's family; having a better income; a better working environment... is the desire of many workers in general, especially freelance workers in particular. The end of the year is the time when many workers change jobs, due to many reasons from workers, employers; the development and changes of industries, production and business sectors, the high demand for labor at the end of the year and preparation for the demand for labor in the first months of the year.
According to Mr. Trung, due to the characteristics and nature of freelance work, changing jobs at this time is of interest to many people, because they want a job with a higher income, a more suitable job, and a better working environment.
“However, to change jobs, freelance workers need to pay attention to and evaluate their current working capacity and ability and the ability to improve to meet the needs of the job; seek reliable information and recruitment needs of employers, preferably through employment service organizations or direct employers; carefully consider all the pros and cons of changing to a new job, a new job with high salary and good benefits is not necessarily better than the current job, including the worst case scenario of losing the job; directly discuss in detail all issues related to the new job to consider and decide to change jobs; avoid scams and fraud in many forms against workers”, Mr. Trung recommended.
