On February 15, (the 6th day of Tet), Dai Dung Trading Mechanical Construction Joint Stock Company in An Ha Industrial Park, Binh Chanh District, held its grand opening. After an 8-day break, 90% of the workers were present, equivalent to more than 2,800 people. All employees present on the first day of the year received lucky money and had a New Year’s meeting.
Dai Dung Company organizes transportation for workers to return to their hometown for Tet and return to work. Photo: An Phuong |
Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of the Trade Union of Dai Dung Company, said that some workers were unable to attend because they come from distant provinces, so the company organized transportation for them to be present on February 19th (the 10th day of Tet), achieving 100% staff attendance.
“The company has a high demand for orders, so we need to act promptly from the beginning of the year,” Mr. Hung said. This company specializes in providing general contracting services and steel structural products serving primarily the Japanese and American markets. The total value of contracts at the beginning of the year reached 1,500 billion VND, reaching 10% of the sales target.
In addition to receiving lucky money, organizing transportation for workers to return to their hometown and come back to Ho Chi Minh City, the company’s management board also plans to increase the basic salary for all workers. According to Mr. Hung, the timing of the salary increase does not depend on the government’s minimum wage adjustment but will be increased earlier to encourage the workers.
Similarly, to provide additional motivation for workers to return to work on the opening day, for many years, Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park, Dong Nai Province, has spent billions of VND on lucky money and gold prize draws. This year, the total amount of money spent by the management board for the first working day was nearly 7 billion VND.
Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc, Chairman of the Trade Union of Taekwang Vina Company, said that each worker received 200,000 VND as lucky money. With the lucky draw prize, the company purchased 44 taels of 9999 gold, and 1,000 boxes of milk to give to the workers, of which the workers who won the special prize received 5 taels of gold, and the other prizes were 2, 1, and half a tael of gold.
“Thanks to the joyful atmosphere, for many years, the rate of workers returning to work on the opening day has always exceeded 90%,” Mr. Phuc said, adding that at the beginning of this year, the company’s order situation was better than last year, so the management board expects the workers to feel secure and have long-term loyalty.
Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc, Chairman of the Trade Union of Taekwang Vina, gave lucky money to workers on February 16. Photo: An Phuong |
In addition to Taekwang Vina, some large companies specializing in producing and processing leather shoes also opened early due to stable orders until mid-year. For example, Changshin Vietnam Company in Dong Nai spent nearly 8 billion VND on lucky money for nearly 37,000 workers, encouraging workers to work full-time as many orders need to be completed in the first quarter. Pouyuen Vietnam Co., Ltd., with over 38,000 workers in Ho Chi Minh City, also resumed work on the 6th day of Tet.
Meanwhile, the garment industry also showed positive signs. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien, Deputy General Director of PPJ Group, the orders for the first quarter are already full, so the entire system with over 17,000 workers working at 30 factories in provinces and cities will start working on February 16th (the 7th day of Tet). “The rate of going to work at the beginning of the year often exceeds 90%, some are not present on time because they come from far away and have requested time off in advance,” Ms. Lien said.
According to the leaders of the PPJ Group, by taking advantage of trade agreements, the company has been searching for new markets and diversifying customers amidst the general difficulties. This year, in addition to traditional markets such as the US, Europe, and Japan, the company has added Australia and Canada.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Union, said that although the orders for factories are available but not many yet, the situation for next year is forecasted to be difficult. Therefore, most companies open after the 10th day of Tet so that workers can enjoy Tet comfortably. However, some units have found many orders at good prices, so they organize production right on the first day after Tet. “This is also a positive sign, creating an atmosphere for the first days of the new year,” Ms. Thuy said.
 Electronic workers work at Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone. Photo: Le Tuyet |
A leader of the Management Board of Industrial Parks – Export Processing Zones of Ho Chi Minh City said that this year there are few changes as workers return to work after Tet. The reason is that many enterprises encountered difficulties in orders in 2023, leading to a reduction in workers’ income, and many people chose to stay in the city, so they are ready to return to work immediately on the opening day. Many workers want to keep their current jobs and are no longer inclined to change jobs after Tet like in previous years. In the early months of the year, many industrial parks recruited over 10,500 workers to serve production.
In Binh Duong, according to statistics from the provincial labor federation, on the 6th day of Tet, 700 enterprises returned to production, with about 200,000 workers. Enterprises in the VSIP Industrial Park have the highest rate of workers returning to work, averaging 75%. On the first day of the year, companies either gave cash lucky money or transferred it to workers’ personal accounts.
Mr. Dang Tan Dat, Head of the Policy and Legal Affairs Committee of the Binh Duong Federation of Labor, assessed that the gift-giving and lucky money activities of enterprises on the first working day create a joyful atmosphere and encourage workers. The fact that hundreds of companies resume production immediately after the holiday is also a positive signal for the first days of the new year. In particular, a series of companies in certain industries such as processing and manufacturing, food and beverage production, textiles, and leather shoes… have a demand to recruit about 60,000 workers, creating more job opportunities.
Le Tuyet
