Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)

Hanoi – Unemployment in the first quarter of 2022 shrank by 130,000 to around 1.3 million from the previous quarter, reflecting a labour market post-pandemic recovery, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The market is bouncing back on account of the “living with the virus” strategy and the relatively large COVID-19 vaccination coverage among the people aged 18 and above, the GSO said.

The number of the people aged 15 and above in employment reached 50 million in Q1, up nearly 1 million quarter-on-quarter and over 130,000 year-on-year.

Monthly income averaged 6.4 million VND during the period, up 1 million VND quarter-on-quarter and 110,000 VND year-on-year. The highest rate is seen in the industry and construction sector, at 7.3 VND million.

Labour demand has been on a rise since the start of this year, said Vu Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Centre for Employment Services.

There has been particularly high demand for workhands in the fields of textile-garment, electricity, electronics, shipping, trade, services, retail and wholesale, Thanh said.

He anticipated an increase in vacancies in the service industry.

The HCM City Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (FALMI) has projected the city will need 280,000 - 310,000 workhands this year if the COVID-19 is kept at bay.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung emphasised that reviving and developing the labour market remains one of the top priorities to support the economic recovery. His ministry plans to focus on maintaining worker numbers in industrial parks and export-processing zones.

Workers will also be provided with access to soft loans sourced from the national fund on employment, Dung highlighted.

According to Vu Trong Binh, head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Employment, about 3.4 million people will benefit from the government’s financial support policy to cut housing costs for workers./