Nearly 540,000 jobs were created in the first half of 2020, reaching 35.6% of the plan and equal to 73.8% of the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. 

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Over the first six months of the year, 33,500 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad. The proportion of unemployment at urban areas in the second quarter of the year was estimated at 4%. 

According to the report on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on Viet Nam’s labor market showed that in the first four months of 2020, around five million laborers nationwide lost their jobs or had their incomes reduced.

During May and early June, the production and manufacturing works have gradually resumed. Since May, 2020, 70,000-80,000 workers who lost jobs have been re-employed each month. 

In the second half of the year, the ministry will continue launching measures to boost the labor market, connecting supply-demand for laborers and providing resources for the labor market. 

As of May 20, as many as 15.6 million people were approved to receive financial support as they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure includes 11.8 million who are people with meritorious services to the revolution, poor and near-poor households. They will be the first to receive the support. 

The rest are laborers working at enterprises, laborers without labor contracts and household businesses at 47 localities will also be provided with financial support. 

As much as VND17,500 billion have been spent for this effort, of which VND7,126 billion were financed for 6.7 million policy beneficiaries. 

More than 1,010 firms hiring laborers have been allowed to temporarily cease to contribute to pension and survivorship funds for 94,100 laborers, with the expenditure of more than VND360 billion. 

A total number of 192,000 laborers have been supported with unemployment benefits, worth nearly VND2,000 billion.  

Earlier, the Government has passed a VND62 trillion (US$2.6 billion) financial support package for poor people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.