From 2022-2023, most real estate businesses have struggled with the market downturn. Even large real estate companies have cut thousands of employees, which has never happened before.
A few years ago, many real estate companies gave Tet bonuses of cars worth billions of VND or bonuses of hundreds of millions of VND. But this year, any company that gives a 13th-month salary as a Tet bonus is already a big effort.
In an exchange with reporters, Mr. Vu Cuong Quyet, the General Director of Dat Xanh – Northern region, said that many real estate companies in 2023 had to cut a significant number of employees to maintain operations. Giving Tet bonuses this year has been truly difficult.
A difficult year for real estate, with some companies only giving gifts or supporting transportation, while others give a 13th-month salary as a Tet bonus. (Photo: Hoang Ha) |
“However, we still have to make an effort to retain our staff because those who stay are a well-selected team that has accompanied the company for many years. The company will try to have a 13th-month salary and a suitable Tet bonus corresponding to the company’s financial situation.
For the past two years, cash flow for real estate companies has also been “depleted,” so people sympathize a lot with the company,” Mr. Quyet shared.
In the difficult economic situation, maintaining full salary payment and minimizing employee cuts has been a significant effort for businesses. Mr. Pham Duc Toan, the General Director of EZ Property Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, said that for a company to consider the bonus issue, it must have good business performance; otherwise, if the company has low revenue or is operating at a loss, it has nowhere to rely on for bonuses.
At EZ Property, the tradition has been that employees who have worked for a minimum of 2 years receive a 13th-month salary as a Tet bonus.
“But there won’t be any Tet bonus this year. With low revenue and almost no one achieving their sales targets, it’s also challenging for the company. The majority of businesses are facing difficulties this year, and we have all worked hard,” Mr. Toan, with a sad tone, shared his thoughts and believed that in 2024, difficulties were still not over, so businesses had to continue to calculate, balance, and make more efforts.
Being a company that used to have attractive Tet bonuses like cars worth billions of VND or bonuses ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions for employees with high sales, this year Khang Land Corporation will not have such big Tet bonuses anymore.
Mr. Nguyen Vu Cao, Chairman of Khang Land’s Board of Directors, said that besides reducing the workforce, the company also had to cut branches due to the general market difficulty and low real estate liquidity.
The leader shared that the company would not have big bonuses like in previous years this year. They would only have a 13th-month salary as a Tet bonus to encourage the employees.
On the other hand, Mr. Nguyen Van Hau, the General Director of Asian Holding Real Estate Joint Stock Company, had to admit that this was the first year the company did not give Tet bonuses.
Mr. Hau said that in the first eight years of operations, the company saw a 90% decrease in revenue. But the company’s leadership still made efforts to pay salaries on time and in full to the employees, although there were no Tet bonuses.
“It’s been so tough that this is the first year the company only has gifts and supports transportation for its employees who come from afar to celebrate Tet with their families. However, everyone is happy and understanding with the company.
Profits are all in the 20-30% inventory. We want everyone to share and accompany the company. In 2023, we made efforts, so in 2024, we have to make even more efforts to have Tet bonuses next year,” said the CEO of Asian Holding.
Affirming that 2024 is a year with many opportunities and bright spots, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, said that the government had already had working sessions with local authorities, ministries, businesses, and associations to develop plans for 2024. He believed that there would be positive impacts on the real estate market.
According to Mr. Dinh, the issue for businesses is to enhance their resilience to better absorb the mechanisms and policies, especially in terms of capital. The solutions from the government and managing agencies also need to be more synchronized to create good moves and positive signals in the real estate market in the coming time.
Nguyen Le
