After the long corona tunnel, light is in sight again on the German job market. The spring recovery continued in May and the number of unemployed continued to decline. According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 2.7 million people were unemployed. That is 84,000 fewer than in April and 126,000 fewer than in May a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 points to 5.9 percent.

654,000 vacancies

There are also rays of hope when it comes to the number of vacancies. In May, 654,000 vacancies were reported to the Federal Agency, 70,000 more than a year ago. BA boss Detlef Scheele rated the development as “the first signs of a comprehensive improvement in the labor market”. The consequences of the corona crisis are still very clearly visible, but they are becoming smaller.

Also less short-time work

There is also now significantly less short-time work. Between May 1 and May 26, companies only registered short-time work for 96,000 people. Experience shows that short-time work is used less than as a precautionary measure. Short-time work benefits were actually paid in March 2021 for 2.61 million people. This meant that the number fell again in March for the first time since November 2020 – when there was another corona lockdown. At its peak, almost six million people in Germany had taken out short-time allowance in April 2020. For the use of short-time work, data is only available after a two-month delay.

Illustration. From the beginning of May 2021 up to now, due to the large-scale outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, Ninh Binh province has announced to suspend the reception of guests at tourist sites and attractions in the province to prevent the epidemic. So 100% of boat drivers here become unemployed. Since the return of the Covid-19 epidemic, foreign tourists have not come to Vietnam for tourism, and domestic visitors have decreased. Most of the laborers working as boat drivers at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area (Ninh Binh) sometimes only get one trip a month. That situation made the boatmen “cry” because their income decreased due to the absence of passengers. A boatman at Trang An boat station said that since the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex came into operation, it has brought jobs and stable income for thousands of locals living around the heritage area. Trang An has long been a famous tourist destination of Ninh Binh, recognized by Unesco as a natural heritage and a world cultural heritage. The scenery here is made up of winding rivers flowing through limestone mountains, creating countless magical and mysterious natural caves that attract visitors. To explore Trang An, visitors will be sitting on a boat to admire the surrounding mountain nature. If in the past, there were cases in this tourist area, the whole family worked as a boat driver. Average income is 400,000-600,000 VND/day. Although the work is hard, in return for the high income, the family’s economy is getting better and better. Employees feel more secure, more attached to the job. But in the past two years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, tourists have dropped sharply, so income is not enough to cover life. In particular, from the beginning of May, the resort temporarily stopped accepting guests, making the life of the already difficult ferrymen even more difficult. They have to find another job to earn their daily income. Similar to Trang An eco-tourism area, Tam Coc – Bich Dong is a familiar destination that tourists definitely cannot ignore when coming to Ninh Binh. Visiting Tam Coc, visitors will be sitting on a boat, down the poetic Ngo Dong river watching the overlapping mountains and iridescent golden rice fields. Ms. Chu Thi Mo, who works as a ferry driver in Tam Coc, confided: Before, there were 6 to 8 trips a month with many tourists, 200,000 VND each. On holidays and Tet, the number of trips increases much more. But since the Covid-19 epidemic, the absence of customers is considered a loss of revenue. Strictly following the direction of the province, to temporarily close to carry out epidemic prevention work, it is estimated that at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area (Ninh Binh), thousands of boatmen have to quit. Without customers, these people have to turn to other occupations to earn a living. According to statistics, at Trang An eco-tourism area and Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area, there are more than 3,000 people working as boat drivers. Most of them are locals. The boatmen here range in age from 18 to 60 years old. A longtime boat driver shared: “Without guests, many people are not interested in boating. They will look for jobs in garment companies, leather shoes, stone handicrafts, etc. to earn extra income. However, these companies only hire young people, and older people will not be recruited.” Thus, there will be a large number of people working as boatmen who “don’t know where to go”. According to a representative of Xuan Truong construction company, which invests and manages the two tourist resorts above, in order to reduce difficulties for workers, in 2020, the business has supported more than 3,000 ferry workers here every year. person 3 months salary. Currently, the enterprise is planning to continue to support these workers to help them overcome the immediate difficulties.

The unemployment rate of working age in the first quarter of this year was 2.42%, the rate of young people who were unemployed and not participating in study or training in quarter 1 was 16.3%, equivalent to nearly 2. million young people.

Also according to the General Statistics Office, 9.1 million workers aged 15 years and over are affected by the epidemic, 540,000 people lose their jobs, 2.8 million people have to take a break, temporarily stop doing business, and 3.1 million people are affected by the epidemic. cut working hours or forced to quit, take turns, 6.5 million people have their income reduced.

Urban workers were more affected than rural areas with 15.6%, compared with 10.4% in rural areas.

Millions of workers are affected by COVID-19. (Illustration)

In terms of three regions, the region least affected is agriculture, forestry and fishery with 7.5% of workers being negatively affected by the pandemic. Industry and construction sector ranked second. Labor in the service sector was hit the hardest, with a rate of 20.4%.

Meanwhile, the average monthly income of employees in the first quarter reached about 6.3 million dong / month, a slight increase compared to the previous quarter as well as the same period last year.

Although the average income increased, this growth was uneven across sectors. Many industries are still heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, causing the income of workers in that industry to decline. These are industries: art, entertainment, transportation, warehousing …

According to Mr. Pham Hoai Nam, Director of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics (General Statistics Office), the numbers on the employment situation in the first quarter of 2021 reflect many difficulties and fluctuations in the economy. in general and the Vietnamese labor market in particular.

To remove difficulties for the job market, the General Statistics Office proposed the Government, ministries and branches to immediately study the issue of “vaccine passports”, to develop the necessary criteria to open the market. The international tourism school aims to help the service and tourism industry not miss opportunities for recovery and development.

Many elephant camps in Thailand were once the top destination for international tourists, but are now forced to close or scale down due to the March 2020 ban. return to their original habitat.

An estimated 3,800 house elephants have been moved out of the tourist spots scattered in Surin province (southeastern Thailand) to the coastal towns of Pattaya or Phuket and the mountains around Chiang Mai.

Several individuals were brought back to Huay Pakkot, a village 180 km southeast of Chiang Mai city where the Karen ethnic minorities have traditionally raised elephants for generations.

A bishop is looking for 4 old elephants. Older males can become aggressive and even kill their offspring. Photo: Nikkei Asia

“After two days, the elephants are gradually adapting to new habitats,” said Theerapat Trungprakan, president of the Thai Elephant Association.

Huay Pakkot and several surrounding villages used to be the largest concentration of elephants in Northern Thailand. Here, elephants are used in the logging industry. After Thailand’s ban on logging in 1989, elephants and mahout left and joined the tourism industry that grew “like mushrooms after rain”.

“The elephants have been returned home, where they were born, but that place is not the same place anymore,” Mr. Theerapat said.

Bishop Pongkavi Kwansaodaeng hugs Dumbo (5 years old), one of his four elephants. Image:

Nikkei Asia

The once fertile forests, where elephants could roam around and find plentiful food, have “disappeared”, replaced by bare slopes planted with corn for fodder. . The amount of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers used are now in the soil and will most likely cause the elephant’s death.

“Elephants now have to share their living space with modern agriculture,” said Satit Trachookwamdee, a man who used to raise five elephants. “The natural forests now meet only 10% of the elephant herd’s daily diet. The rest must be shipped from remote towns, which are very expensive.”

An elephant can consume up to 300kg of fodder per day, most of the house elephants are now chained to prevent them from destroying crops, and to prevent unknown elephants from colliding with each other.

“This is like gathering aggressive kids in a nursery,” said Theerapat.

If you lose your elephant, the consequences are very unpredictable. An 8-year-old female elephant named Nana suffered chemical burns on her tongue and palate after eating food containing herbicides.

The elephants were fed corn, a food source not available at Huay Pakkot. Photo: Nikkei Asia

In order to promptly cure dangerous cases, Chiang Mai University collaborated with the Thai Elephant Association and the government to create a mobile multi-purpose clinic: a truck that can be converted in minutes into a field clinic, or used to transport severe cases to one of Thailand’s four elephant hospitals.

However, getting the health force to reach remote areas may still take days. This is considered one of the limitations of elephant farming in rural areas instead of in tourist sites where care services are available.

In these villages, the majority of people often live in poverty, lacking the necessary resources to sustain these “giant” animals.

“I prefer to live here. It’s much more free here,” said Pongkavi Kwansaodaeng as he stroked Dumbo, one of his four elephants. “The elephants are happier here too. You can see it through their eyes and expressions. Here they have more time to mingle with nature.”

However, Pongkavi also admits that this paradise life may not last long. Before the pandemic broke out, Pongkavi worked in a tourist area and could earn 24,000 Baht (more than 17 million VND) in rent for an elephant a month.

Most of the money he saves is used to buy elephant food. But it is likely that this amount will be depleted in less than a year, although there are many opinions that Thailand will reopen international visitors in October to help revive the country’s tourism industry.

Theerapat, owner of Patara elephant farm near Chiang Mai city, said it currently receives only about 10 visitors a week, compared with 45 times per day before the pandemic. Despite being prized for how to raise and breed elephants, his farm is currently struggling to keep the remaining 40 elephants, compared with 81 pre-pandemic herds.

This elephant rancher had to use up his savings, borrow money, sell property and vehicles to continue his business. “During my heyday, I used to drive a modern sports car. Right now, I can only afford a 40-year old Range Rover,” Theerapat said.

Elephant tourism previously brought Thailand nearly 6 billion Baht per year, although difficulties still surround, but Mr. Theerapat believes that this is also an opportunity for elephant tourism to create some new reforms.

“We should not think of elephant tourism as a business, but see this as a way to help preserve and conserve this species. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an appropriate standard for the industry. This “, Mr. Theerapat stressed.

In its early days, elephant tourism was often “Disneylanded” with elephants kicking soccer balls, playing basketball, and performing circus-like games to attract tourists. Many farms also train elephants to learn to draw or play musical instruments. Several farms have been accused of exploiting elephant labor.

In response to criticism and calls for boycotts from animalists at home and abroad, some farm owners prevented visitors from riding elephants, restricting visitors from participating in activities such as elephant feeding. and shower.

But according to Mr. Theerapat, this is a misconception. Elephant riding is seen as daily exercise for this species, if this activity is not maintained, it is easy to cause overweight for elephants, or cause them to digestive problems and make them worse. Females become difficult to give birth, even die during childbirth.

Theerapat said that the elephant tourism industry is a solution to help prevent the extinction of the elephant population in Thailand, which owns the second largest number of elephants in Asia after Myanmar.

Releasing large numbers of elephants to no longer invested or relatively sensitive natural areas in Thailand would be difficult. Although they are able to return to the place where they were born, when falling into unemployment and lack of caregivers, house elephants find it difficult to survive on their own.

“Before, there were some people who wanted to quit elephant tourism. Now, maybe they have achieved their wish. But then what?”, Shrugged Mr. Theerapat. “Who will be responsible for the future of these elephants?”

Sapphire

According to Nikkei Asia