Good news from seasonal workers abroad
Sending workers to work abroad under contracts is no longer a new thing in Dong Thap province, because the economic efficiency it brings has truly contributed to poverty reduction in the locality.
According to calculations, the average income of a young worker working in Japan and Korea after deducting expenses is about 20 - 25 million VND/month. Dong Thap estimates that the average income of the whole province's workers sent back to their families each year is more than 1,300 billion VND.
In recent years, in Dong Thap province, not only individuals go to work abroad but also the whole family works together, thereby accumulating more capital, "resolving difficulties" in finding jobs for workers after the age of 35.
A typical case is that of Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh and his wife (Tinh Long hamlet, Tinh Thoi commune, Cao Lanh city) who used to be short of money, but after deciding to work seasonally in Korea 6 times, they saved about 1.6 billion VND, bought a house for 600 million VND, and paid off a debt of about 400 million VND.
"Because of unreasonable agricultural investment, my family has a debt of about 400 million VND. Seeing that the province has a policy for seasonal labor for the elderly, I boldly registered to participate. It can be said that I have really changed my life thanks to going abroad, and learning and applying clean fruit growing methods when returning to my hometown. My family is now living well," said Mr. Thanh.
Or the case of Mr. Nguyen Van Luyen and his wife (Long Phu hamlet, Hoa Long commune, Lai Vung district) went to Japan for 1 year but due to the epidemic, they were able to extend their stay for another 3 years and 5 months, and have saved about 1.8 billion VND to buy land and build a house.
"I never thought I would be able to build a house with a cost of nearly 1 billion, and have capital to invest in growing fruit trees when I returned to my hometown. We will try our best to not disappoint the expectations of local leaders," said Mr. Luyen.
Solutions for repatriated workers
Positive results from seasonal labor abroad suggest solutions for Dong Thap's labor industry in the context of repatriated workers becoming a "wave" in provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region.
In fact, in Dong Thap, recently there has been a situation of workers from the provinces and cities of the Southeast returning to their localities due to lack of jobs, in which the group over 35 years old is concentrated. As of November 2024, Dong Thap had 10,883 workers reporting job loss to the Provincial Employment Service Center, of which 3,251 were over 35 years old.
This is a matter of concern in the context of rapid changes in the labor market and the need for sustainable development of enterprises. This group often has difficulty finding jobs due to many reasons, such as competition from younger workers or changes in recruitment needs.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Hieu - Director of Dong Thap Provincial Employment Service Center said: "From the positive results of seasonal labor work in 2024, the province will promote sending seasonal workers to Korea in 2025, striving to send 800 workers out of 1,800 workers in need who have registered at the Center".
With the spirit of “leaving no one behind”, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee of Dong Thap province directed the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to preside over and advise on proposed solutions. On this basis, Dong Thap built a series of solutions to adapt to many circumstances, levels, genders, etc. Including the policy of sending seasonal workers abroad.
