I. OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT: “COVID-19 AND VIETNAM LABOUR MARKET: CHALLENGES TO A NEW NORMAL”

Nearly 60% of businesses have enough capacity to continue maintaining and developing

According to the survey results of VietnamWorks during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the social distancing time, when asked about the Business Situation, nearly 60% of businesses showed a certain capacity to maintain and continue developing business. Accordingly, 44% of businesses said that they were operating normally, able to maintain the workforce as well as salaries and benefits for employees; 16% of businesses said they are growing and increasing their workforce scale.

On the contrary, the businesses affected by COVID-19 accounted for 40%, of which 30% of businesses had to lay off employees to maintain through the crisis, 10% of businesses chose to lay off their staffs, as well as cut down on human resources cost in salary and benefits.

The relationship between consumption and employment status still unstable

According to the survey results, nearly 40% of workers have lost their jobs and have not yet had full-time jobs, out of 60% of the labor force that is still working, half of these have been partially reduced income, leading to a sharp decline in consumer demand (the labor force is the group with the most consumption in the market), thereby causing businesses to reduce production and are impossible to fully recover like before the epidemic happened. Therefore, this has reduced job opportunities in the market due to enterprises having no demand or reduced recruitment demand.

Although the growth in the number of job postings in VietnamWorks.com in the first week of May 2020 (after the social distancing) increased by 20%, there is still be seen as not enough to balance the supply-demand, causing the recruitment market is still more competitive than ever for job-seekers.

Laying off entry-level staffs, reducing salaries of middle managers and above level is a common recovery plan

When surveyed about “lay off employees at different levels of the company”, 72% of businesses chose to cut entry-level staff, of which 51% chose to cut inexperienced employees, 21% chose Interns/Fresh graduate group. The group also is predicted that it will be difficult to find a new job, with nearly 42% of businesses choosing to revitalize their recruitment plans will prioritize hiring Experienced employees, with only 19% choosing less experienced staff and 5% select Intern/Fresh graduates.

Regarding the salary reduction plan, 58% of businesses chose to reduce the salary of middle and high-level personnel, of which 17% chose the Team Leader/Supervisor; 20% chose to reduce the salary of the Management group, 21% chose the Director/Department Head.

39% of optimistic businesses will resume recruitment activities soon

When asked about the recovery time of recruitment activities, up to 39% of enterprises expressed optimism that they would soon resume recruitment activities, of which 14% said that they would immediately resume recruitment activities; 17% chose a recovery plan within the next 1 month, 8% chose within the next half month.

Besides, 20% of businesses said that it was still unclear when recruitment activities would return to normal; 19% of businesses will wait until 3 months later, 17% will wait for the next half year.

The employee is willing to return to the former company but will leave if the time of salary reduction is too long

When asked if the former company offered a job, nearly 60% of the candidates would accept the proposal, half of whom said the condition was “will not agree to a decrease in salary compared to before”. For the group that accepted a salary decrease, there is still a certain time limit, with 70% of them saying they will accept it if the time is only within 3 months.

When continuing to ask if the time of salary reduction has exceeded the limit, most respondents chose to have different reactions to get better income as expected, of which 63% of respondents said that they will look for new opportunities and only 37% of them asked directly the company for a raise.

II. THE CAMPAIGN: “ENTERING THE NEW NORMAL WITH VIETNAMWORKS”

In order to help the businesses and job seekers in Vietnam to take the lead in the “new normal” state after the social distancing time, VietnamWorks launched the campaign “Entering the new normal with VietnamWorks” took place in May 2020 with activities and information to support recruitment; large candidates database and quality jobs; market insights, and practical advice from experts.

Support for Employers

• Discount for online recruitment services and support with other value-added services.
• The livestream webinar with the topic “Scenarios of ending this pandemic & the story of leading people through the crisis”. The event is expected to take place in the second half of May.

Support for Job-seekers

• The launch of the New Normal Hub: a place to post jobs that are most in-demand in the market, tips for finding effective jobs on VietnamWorks, how to answer interviews effectively, how to prepare a professional CV, …)
• The livestream webinar with the topic “Job hunting and salary negotiations in the time of COVID-19” on May 16 morning and it will be live on VietnamWorks Facebook Fanpage.