Mr. La Tri Dai, 19 years old (Thuong Tin commune, Hanoi City) is working as a bartender for a water stall near his house.
Mr. Dai said that he has been attached to the job for nearly 2 years. After graduating from secondary school, Mr. Dai chose to attend a short-term vocational training class specializing in beverages and pursued a job related to mixing. In addition to working at the shop, Mr. Dai still takes advantage of attending classes to improve his skills.
Currently, the job brings in an income of about 5 million VND/month. For many people, this is a small amount of money, but for me, a young worker who both works and actively learns to improve my skills, this income is very valuable. Fortunately, I live with my parents, so I only contribute a part of the money for my mother to take care of food and drinks, without having to rent a house," Mr. Dai said.
During this year's National Day holiday on September 2nd, some employees of the shop asked for leave to return to their hometowns, Mr. Dai registered to fill his schedule to have more opportunities to work and improve his income.
According to Mr. Dai, for people working in the service sector, holidays are usually a more busy time for work. Although he has to go to work while many people are off, he still feels excited because he can take advantage of this time to earn extra income and create a more stable financial source for life.
I am very excited to work during holidays because the number of customers will be 3-4 times higher than usual days. My income increases according to sales, the salary paid doubles during holidays, the total in a few days can be nearly 1.5 million VND, almost equal to 1/3 of the monthly income. Most importantly, when customers order more, I have more opportunities to practice my skills," Mr. Dai shared.
Also registering to work full-time on holidays at a restaurant, Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh Huyen, 19 years old (Phu Luong ward, Hanoi City) said that although work will be much busier on holidays, when people's needs for food and entertainment increase, she still happily goes to work.
On holidays, more customers mean that work is also more hard and stressful. However, this is also the time when workers in service industries have more opportunities to work overtime, earn more money and improve their income. For a young worker, the money earned during peak days helps me have more expenses to cover living expenses and be more financially proactive," Ms. Huyen said.
Ms. Huyen revealed that during this holiday, up to 2/3 of the 16 employees of the restaurant where she works registered to go to work. The restaurant owner committed to paying double the normal day's salary from August 30th to September 2nd. Especially, if serving a group of customers, Ms. Huyen and her colleagues are also given extra tips if they are thoughtful and dedicated.
According to Ms. Huyen, during the April 30th holiday, she also registered to stay to work for all 4 days. Her total income is 1.2 million VND, including the additional money for working on holidays and customer tips.
Usually, the entire group of employees will agree to contribute all the money that customers give as lucky money and divide it equally among those present during the shift. That way everyone has a share, and the staff are all excited," Ms. Huyen said.
Ms. Huyen also revealed that during this year's National Day holiday, she expects to have an income of about 2.4 million VND for 5 working days (August 29 - September 2). This amount is more than 2 times her average income on normal days.
