Tuan (left) and some compatriots go fishing as both recreation and “hike”, saving more money – Photo: NVCC
Not only are working conditions difficult in some places in the country, but many young Vietnamese workers are exporting labor or intern to Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia… which has been confirmed in recent months. There is continuous difficulty in work, income has decreased.
Working five days a week but four days of free time, as well as the continuously falling exchange rate of the Japanese yen, left Fong (22 years old) frustrated. Avoiding fancy meals, stocking up on discounted items and limiting spending is Fong’s way of managing at the present time.
go sit in the factory and look at each other
By last October, it had been seven months since Phong left Vietnam for Kagawa Prefecture (Japan) to live and work as a labor exporter. Earlier, he was offered a job as a corrugated iron stamping machine operator by a labor export brokerage company at a package price of 250 million VND.
For the entire family, that number was a good fortune because they never had such a large amount of money. But after receiving an attractive offer of a salary of more than 40 million VND/month and a job that involved just sitting in one place and taking pictures, they ran everywhere so their son could go. The 22-year-old boy’s dream of working as a laborer to start a business was rekindled there.
Once there, Fong had a month to get used to the environment, the people, and the work of a real mechanic.
For heavy work, there was a lifting machine, but Fong was forced to learn welding, measuring, drilling and cutting steel, all of which he never knew before. These tasks are quite heavy and challenging for Fong, who has a slim physique.
But in “Fate Accomplished”, Fong has no other choice, he is forced to study and do it. When he gradually got into the rhythm of work, problems started arising in the company where he worked. Fong said, “For a few months after coming to the workshop, we would just sit and look at each other. Sometimes some would lie down to rest, some would play the game for three or four days in a row for several weeks. Are.”
Due to less work, his salary has also become much less than before. Currently, Phong is paid more than 22 million VND in Vietnamese currency every month.
Therefore, all the expenses along with the cost of living abroad become a burden. Fong said his salary was reduced and he worked less, so everything had to be scaled back. Before the weekend, his brother and friends would call each other, but now they have stopped completely.
In another case, Mr. Tone (34 years old) is working in Taiwan because there is a lot of work in the mechanical factory and he is constantly working overtime. It is estimated that their income, converted into Vietnamese currency, is about 40 million VND/month. However, over the past five months, workers are no longer allowed overtime.
For several weeks, there was little work in the factory, and workers invited each other to work cleaning, rearranging, and maintaining the factory’s machine systems. “Working as a mechanic is naturally heavy and dangerous, but in reality, I only earn about 25 million Vietnamese dong. Meanwhile, rent, electricity, water and food are extremely expensive,” Mr Ton said.
considered running away
In 2022, Tuan went to Japan as an agricultural trainee for a farm in Kumamoto Prefecture. Having worked as a real farmer for more than a year and a half, he is somewhat more “tough-minded” than his other compatriots.
For most interns, the first year is full of struggles ranging from cultural differences, language, weather, to people and work. But there is no other way to get a place there due to the debt of about 300 million VND.
As he gradually adjusted to the living environment and work and started meeting more people, difficulties began to arise. Many times, vegetables and fruits would be planted in the fields until the harvest season but no outlet could be found, workers like Tuan were also inevitably affected.
The salary for agricultural trainees like Tuan, which was already very low, is now even more difficult, only about 16 million VND/month. Because of the hardship, Tuan admitted that he once thought about running away from the farm to work as an underground worker.
But to do so is to put yourself in the category of illegal labour, to become homeless and for this, arrest is almost certain according to the laws of any foreign country.
Trying to overcome the difficulties, he actively sought out the owner of the farm and asked for more work. From driving tractors, harvesters, plowing soil, harvesting agricultural products… Tuan can do everything he says.
Understanding the general difficulty, the farm owner often allows Tuan and everyone else to collect farm products that have been swept away after harvest or are bruised or slightly damaged by insects, but still takes them home. Can be used to bring.
On weekends, he and some other compatriots from the area often go to the beach to go fishing, which is both recreational and “enhancing” and also saves money on going to the market.
Nine months, exceeding annual labor export target
According to information from the Overseas Labor Management Department (Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs), more than 111,500 Vietnamese people have gone to work abroad in the past nine months, including about 39,000 female workers.
Meanwhile, the 2023 plan will send 110,000 people to export labour. In just nine months, it has exceeded the labor export target for the entire year.
Japan remains the leading market receiving Vietnamese workers, with more than 55,000.
This is followed by the Taiwan (China) market with more than 46,000 workers, Korea with about 2,500 people. In addition, Vietnamese workers also work in China, Hungary, Singapore, Romania…
As a freelance worker, Ms. Lone (35 years old), who works in Malaysia, said that in the past, the hourly maid and house cleaning work she did was always demanded from households and offered Was done. However, from the beginning of 2023 until now, he has worked only sporadically and has been virtually unemployed for a long time.
“Maybe local people are not in trouble or unemployed, but the effects of inflation, rising prices of consumer goods and other costs mean that they actively cut spending. And the first thing they cut is Politics.” “I don’t employ any staff now, I will clean and do the household work myself,” Ms Lone said.
Vietnamese workers abroad want to go home
(TagstoTranslate)Labor export(T)Interns(T)Young Vietnamese workers(T)Expense saving(T)Economic difficulties
