Over $80mln in social insurance paid to Covid-19 sufferers
Society

Over $80mln in social insurance paid to Covid-19 sufferers

Social insurance agencies paid sickness benefits due to Covid-19 to more than 1,453,700 beneficiaries in the first four months of 2022, totaling over VND1.9 trillion ($82.64 million). More than 85.3 million people are now covered by health insurance, or 87.44 per cent of the population. Over 13.4 million have unemployment insurance, or 26.57 per cent of the workforce.
Society

1.3mln workers needed in 2022

Despite the labor market showing signs of improvement, there was still a shortage of workers in certain regions in the first quarter of this year. It is expected that recruitment demand among enterprises will total nearly 1.3 million employees this year, an increase of 18 per cent compared to 2021 but still lower than in 2019 and 2020, when unskilled workers and workers not requiring a degree or certificate accounted for 75 per cent.
Society

Delay to minimum wage increase proposed

Eight associations have suggested the Prime Minister delay the timeframe for applying regional minimum wage increases, from July 1, 2022, as proposed by the National Wage Council, to January 1, 2023, to help businesses. The associations believe that raising wages in the middle of the year will put businesses in an extremely difficult situation, and many will have to cut staff, pause or reduce production, or even go bankrupt because they cannot pay the higher labor costs. This could lead to tens of thousands of workers losing their jobs.