Remove 3 bottlenecks to create jobs for workers

In the first quarter of 2021, there were still 9.1 million people aged 15 and over that were negatively affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. This fact shows that it is necessary to soon remove the ‘bottlenecks’ to create jobs for employees.
Struggles for outbreaks of COVID-19

According to the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Planning and Investment), the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 and the first months of 2021 has pushed many workers into jobless status, at the same time forcing many people to become workers. have informal jobs.

In the first quarter of 2021, employed workers in urban areas increased by 114,300 people compared to the fourth quarter of 2020; down 90,200 people over the same period last year. In rural areas, the number of employed people increased by 508,900 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 and decreased by 854,300 people over the same period last year. The proportion of labor force in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector is 31.6% (corresponding to more than 17.05 million people); 31.7% of industry and construction sector (corresponding to 17.09 million people); 36.7% service sector (corresponding to 19.81 million people). Up to now, the number of employees aged 15 and over who are working is 53.4 million people, down 1.3 million; in which, the number of workers with informal jobs is 20.9 million, an increase of 233,000 people compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Workers working in production lines at factories were negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: VNA.

Statistics show that the epidemic has caused the rate of workers with informal jobs to rise sharply in the first quarter of 2021, in contrast to the trend of decreasing this rate in recent years; businesses are forced to support with many measures, including measures to reduce labor (cut, take turns, etc.), to recruit seasonal workers, temporary workers to maintain operations. This leads to a decrease in the number of formal employees and an increase in the number of informal workers, leading to a rebound in the proportion of workers with informal employment after many years of continuous decline.

The COVID-19 epidemic also significantly increases the number of underemployed workers in economic sectors. The underemployment rate of workers in the age group is 2.51%, of which the underemployment rate in urban areas is 1.68%; Underemployment rate in rural areas is 2.93%. More than half of the underemployed people are currently working in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, accounting for 53.7%, down 15.6 percentage points over the same period last year; the industry and construction sector accounted for 20.2%, up 10.7 percentage points; the service sector accounted for 26.1%, up 4.9 percentage points. Thus, the current underemployment is not only concentrated in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but is increasing in industry, construction and services.

For workers in the age group, the professional and technical qualifications are higher, the underemployment rate will be lower. The underemployment rate in the age group 2020 of workers without professional and technical qualifications is 2.87%; primary level is 2.25%; intermediate level is 1.58%; college is 1.52%; from university and above is 1.04%. Average monthly income of employees increased compared to the previous quarter, but still decreased compared to the same period last year. Average monthly income from employees’ work in the first quarter of 2021 reached 5.7 million dong, up 212,000 dong. VND compared with the previous quarter and decreased 108,000 VND against the same period last year.

Worryingly, the number of unemployed people in working age quarter I / 2021 was nearly 1.2 million, down 60,100 from the previous quarter and 136,800 people over the same period last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the unemployment rate of working age urban areas the highest increase compared to the same period in the past 10 years.

Although it increased higher than the previous year, the unemployment rate in urban areas did not exceed 4%, meeting the target set by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 85/2019 / QH-14 on the Development Plan. Socio-economic development in 2021. This, together with the GDP growth and other macro-balance indicators, can be seen as important evidence of the success of the Government in its efforts to achieve the dual goal. : disease prevention and socio-economic development.

Remove 3 “bottlenecks”

Leaders of the General Statistics Office said that, in the context of COVID-19 increasing the rate of unemployed workers, it is necessary to focus on removing 3 “bottlenecks” to actively respond and adapt to new developments. epidemic situation, both controlling the epidemic and promoting production and business.

Specifically, the ministries, branches and localities need to create conditions to continue solving difficulties for production enterprises. In which, focusing on reforming processes and procedures so that businesses can access simple, convenient and timely supporting policies to stimulate the economy as well as the demand for labor. These measures not only help businesses and employees escape the risk of bankruptcy, job loss and income reduction, but also create a driving force for production and business development.

On the other hand, localities actively implement specific support packages, diversify forms of subsidies, expand vocational training programs to suit many subjects, especially female workers and workers. Labor without technical and professional qualifications, informal labor to stabilize social security, motivate workers to work, contribute to economic recovery and development.

The most important bottleneck now, according to the leaders of the General Statistics Office, is to focus on retraining human resources, because the Vietnamese labor market has about 75% of the employees without any technical or professional training. This is a major limitation of the Vietnamese economy in the context of the epidemic still having new developments and the 4th industrial revolution taking place around the world. The low quality of the labor force will be a barrier separating opportunities to adapt and catch up with new technology trends and new business methods of the world. Therefore, in the coming time, Vietnam needs to actively renew and implement training and retraining policies to improve the quality of human resources to adapt to the requirements of economic growth and development.